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One of the hardest but most important things required when putting together a resume is deciding what information should be included on the resume and what can be left out. Many resumes that I critique include a great deal of unnecessary information. Resumes do not need to include everything you have ever done but should be critiqued to include information that is relevant to the internship or job to which you are applying. Continue reading about keeping your resume relevant ...

Thumbnail image for Penny Loretto.jpg Article by, Penny Loretto, a career counselor at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, has her own private career counseling practice, Career Choice, and is About.com's Guide to Internships.


With the turmoil of today's job market, many colleges are working hard to find ways to provide students with job and internship opportunities for next summer and after graduation. Our small liberal arts college located in upstate New York is tapping into alumni and parent networks to see if they might be able to assist by offering internships and/or entry-level jobs available. Continue reading about taking a proactive approach ...


Thumbnail image for Penny Loretto.jpg Article by, Penny Loretto, a career counselor at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, has her own private career counseling practice, Career Choice, and is About.com's Guide to Internships.


Penny Loretto's Internship Pick of the Week

Aroundphilly.com is the premiere entertainment online guide in the Delaware Valley and currently has an audience of approximately 155,000, with 6.5 million hits per month.
Aroundphilly.com is looking for journalism, public relations, and English majors to work as part of their editorial team. This is a competitive internship that offers three internships per year during spring, summer, and fall. Interns get the opportunity to work along with the top editors and designers in the company. Interns will get a chance to create content, pitch ideas and streamline information. Continue reading about Aroundphilly.com internships ...


Thumbnail image for Penny Loretto.jpg Article by, Penny Loretto, a career counselor at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, has her own private career counseling practice, Career Choice, and is About.com's Guide to Internships.


Winter break is a great time to network with alumni and professionals currently working in a specific career field that is of interest to you. First of all, you can make a list of potential people you can contact and then call them and ask to schedule an informational interview. You might try checking out alumni at your college or calling local organizations or agencies and ask to speak with someone currently working in your area of interest. Prepare a 30 second elevator speech to introduce yourself and then ask to schedule an informational interview. The interview can be done over the phone or in person. Continue reading about networking during winter break ...


Thumbnail image for Penny Loretto.jpg Article by, Penny Loretto, a career counselor at a small liberal arts college in upstate New York, has her own private career counseling practice, Career Choice, and is About.com's Guide to Internships.


Have an internship interview coming up ? Do you want to make sure you are prepared ? Check out these REAL questions that come from REAL internship coordinators on www.quarterlife.com/intern. Print this out and use as a practice ! Good luck !

Note: I will update this list frequently. L.B.


Common Interview Questions for Internships


What aspects of an internship are most important to you and why?
(LionsGate Internship Coordinator)

What do you hope to ultimately come away with from the ideal internship ?
(LionsGate Internship Coordinator)

What websites do you visit regularly ?
(Celebrations.Com Head of Business Development)

Why do you want to intern with our company specifically?
(BermanBraun Internship Coordinator)

Why do you want to work at a production company as opposed to a talent agency, studio, etc ?
(BermanBraun Internship Coordinator)

What are you looking to get out of this internship?
(Internship Coordinator at Nu Image Films)

What is your long term goal in the industry?
(Internship Coordinator at Nu Image Films)

What are some of your favorite movies and why ?
(Internship Coordinator, Polsky Films)

Give me a logline for your favorite film - as if you are selling it to me ?
(Internship Coordinator, Polsky Films)

What is your biggest weakness and why ?
(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

What is your strongest attribute that you really bring to the table ?
(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

What kind of tasks would you like to be involved with?
(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

If you could describe yourself in one word, what would it be ?
(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

Can you recall a situation where you were a leader ?
(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

If you commit to this internship, what does that mean to you ?
(Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen)

What is it that you want to do within the industry ?
(Internship Coordinator, Intrepid Pictures)

Are you bothered by profanity in movies ?
(Internship Coordinator, Jinks/Cohen Productions)

What do you know about the company ?
(Internship Coordinator, Imax Corporation)

What interests you about working in this industry ?
(Internship Coordinator, Imax Corporation)


Lauren Berger.jpgArticle by, Lauren Berger, dubbed "The Intern Queen" after participating in fifteen internships during her four years in college. She built her "Intern Queen"brand in May of 2006 and recently teamed up with Quarterlife to create the Quarterlife Internship Program where students can get FREE access to internships in the entertainment and journalism fields. Berger also provides Internship Advice and Content for students.


I wanted to take a moment to let interns know what they should expect during the first few days/weeks of their internships. A misconception that many students have is that they will be VERY BUSY at all times. Here are some tips that I put together:

  • EXPECT lots of downtown. Just as you are getting used to the new job, new tasks, new hours - the company and your boss are getting used to you. They might not be used to having an extra hand around the office so everyone needs time to adjust.
  • Don't get frustrated after the first few hours on the job or internship because you aren't given anything to do. Just wait patiently and give yourself and those around you the opportunity to get situated. Be prepared to go outside your comfort zone in plenty of professional and social situations. High school isn't over quite yet ! Be prepared to find new friends to lunch with and to explore the different social circles in the workplace.
  • Be patient while the LEARNING CURVE takes its course. Even though the people around you are used to the day-to-day in your new office, [that] doesn't mean everything will click right away. It takes time to learn each company's individual systems in and around the office. Everyone keeps track of things like emails, phone sheets, and databases in different ways. Give yourself a break if you don't get it right away.
  • Extra! It's a NEW job. You don't have to love it the first day and most likely you won't. Don't be so hard on yourself and make sure to give yourself credit and take the proper time to adjust.


Lauren Berger.jpgArticle by, Lauren Berger, dubbed "The Intern Queen" after participating in fifteen internships during her four years in college. She built her "Intern Queen"brand in May of 2006 and recently teamed up with Quarterlife to create the Quarterlife Internship Program where students can get FREE access to internships in the entertainment and journalism fields. Berger also provides Internship Advice and Content for students.


What To Do and What NOT To Do During Your Internship

During the first week of an internship, you should arrive on time. An email should be sent to your hiring manager asking about parking, food, dress, etc one week prior to your first day at the job.

If you are sitting at your desk with nothing to do, you should approach your employer and ask if there is anything you can do to help. If they don't need help ask if there is anyone else in the office you can help.

Whenever you meet someone in passing, you should introduce yourself. If you are in the breakroom with others don't be afraid to extend your hand and meet everyone around you. When you go back to your desk write down their name. If you aren't sure of their last name try to look on your company directory and figure it out. Once you know the person's first and last name, try to get their email address. Keep this information stored so that at the end of your internship or job you have all of your contacts properly stored .

Whenever your boss calls you into the office, go in with a pen and paper. NEVER go in their office without a pen and paper. This shows that you take your job seriously and that you begin each task with a sense of urgency and importance.

  • Don't sit on Myspace, Facebook, or LinkedIn while on the job. Make it a point to keep your personal social activities separate from work.
  • Don't give close friends your work email account. Have them email your personal account. This will help you to separate your work from your play.


Lauren Berger.jpgArticle by, Lauren Berger, dubbed "The Intern Queen" after participating in fifteen internships during her four years in college. She built her "Intern Queen"brand in May of 2006 and recently teamed up with Quarterlife to create the Quarterlife Internship Program where students can get FREE access to internships in the entertainment and journalism fields. Berger also provides Internship Advice and Content for students.


For me the wilderness is central to life itself - I can't be happy without time spent outdoors. That doesn't mean that I'm not enjoying life in downtown Chicago, but I plan on spending lots of time in the woods and rivers of Wisconsin and Michigan once Spring starts to show its face. My philosophy is shared by the people at The Wilderness Society. Their About page says that "It is our calling and our passion to protect America's wilderness, not as a relic of our nation's past, but as a thriving ecological community that is central to life itself." I couldn't agree more. They're a non-profit organization that provides "scientific, economic, legal and policy guidance to land managers, communities, local conservation groups and state and federal decision-makers" to "ensure the best management of our lands - national forests, parks and refuges, as well as public lands managed by the Bureau of Land Management." I've seen one of my favorite places in the world (a Northern Michigan tract of wilderness and quality fishing areas) put at risk by poor land management policies that would have allowed natural gas drilling in an extremely sensitive area, so I know firsthand how vital The Wilderness Society's work is. Continue reading about The Wilderness Society...


Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


I was just browsing the news this morning when I came across the story of how Bernard Madoff, a prominent Wall Street trader, allegedly admitted to defrauding investors in his hedge fund of $50 billion. It is an unbelievable amount of money, and it's hard to believe that anyone would go through the effort and risk to steal that much money - I can't even fathom what you would do with $50 billion in illegally acquired money. The most outrageous part of the story might be that Madoff has been released on $10 million bail. That's peanuts for him. It's .02% of what he allegedly stole. After reading this story I started browsing non-profits for today's post, and I came across the Vera Institute of Justice. It's a New York City based organization with locations in Washington, DC and New Orleans, and it was founded when "philanthropist Louis Schweitzer and magazine editor Herb Sturz recognized the injustice of a bail system in New York City that granted liberty based on income." Today's story about Madoff is a perfect example of this injustice. Continue reading about Vera Institute of Justice...

Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


I think that I've told you before that I don't listen to a lot of music, and I stopped reading about music a long time ago. That means that I'm not very familiar with Pitchfork, but from what I hear, they're a "a Chicago-based daily Internet publication devoted to music criticism and commentary, music news, and artist interviews." That came from Wikipedia, because Pitchfork has somehow forgotten to include an About page on their site. Ok, so Pitchfork isn't just about music. It's about indie music - mostly indie rock but also "electronic, pop, hip hop, dance, folk, jazz, metal, and experimental music." Beyond the daily e-zine that they publish, Pitchfork has also recently launched Pitchfork.tv, their take on online tv. Continue reading about Pitchfork...


Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


An interview by Lauren "Intern Queen" Berger

I AM INTERN Presents The Intern's Speak Series ! Learn from the internship experiences of others ! Read on ! L.B.

The Intern: J. Tyler, Senior at the University of Arizona

Position: Intern at Jerry Bruckheimer (CSI) and at quarterlife.com in Santa Monica, CA for Summer 2008

PAST INTERNSHIPS:

True Fabrications

WHAT IS THE MOST VALUABLE LESSON YOU'VE LEARNED WHILE INTERNING ?

Get contacts and keep in touch with them.

DO YOU HAVE ANY INTERN HORROR STORIES?

Just my lame living situation. Oh, and one weekend I had to go back to Tucson, Arizona to move stuff from my old apartment into my new one for the upcoming school year. Well, my car decided to not have air conditioning when going above 50 miles per hour. So I had to drive 1000 miles in a single weekend with no air conditioning in 110 degree weather.

HAVE YOU EVER SPILLED COFFEE ?

I'm from Seattle, of course. But I haven't had to make a single coffee run while interning.

JAMMED PAPER IN THE COPY MACHINE ?

Nope

BROKEN ANYTHING ?

Nope.

WHAT IS THE COOLEST THING YOU GOT TO DO AT YOUR INTERNSHIP ?

I visited the CSI set and had a meeting with Carol Mendelson (show runner for CSI.) I also visited Asylum, visual effects facility and got a meeting with Nathan McGuiness, CEO.

DOES YOUR COMPANY DO ANYTHING EXTRA FOR INTERNS ?

I get to listen/sit in on meetings, sets up personal meetings with each executive as well as sister companies that they work for.

WHAT DO YOU WANT TO DO WHEN YOU GRADUATE ?

I WANT to produce films, but it's a long ladder to climb.

IF YOU ARE INTERNING IN A CITY WHERE YOU DON'T LIVE...WHAT IS YOUR HOUSING SITUATION LIKE ?

Horrifying. I live with four girls. 3 are amazing. The one that I happen to share a room with is terrible. She's extremely messy, is a bit of a nymphomaniac to the point that I don't trust any of the couches in my living room; she randomly showed up with a dog one day without asking anyone else who lives in the apartment; and she has a friend who got thrown in jail for assault with a deadly weapon; the kitchen has a roach problem; my desk has an ant problem; my toilet needs to be plunged every three flushes (even if they're urine), the hot water from my shower has practically NO water pressure; the roommate's dog has peed on my bed twice, resulting in a bed that vaguely smells like urine; and I have had to replace all the chargers to my electronics because the dog chewed the rest of them up. There's more but I can't think of the rest of the crappy living situation.

HOW DID YOU GET YOUR INTERNSHIP ?

Through my school, for the Bruckheimer one. Quarterlife I stumbled upon by working as GM at my college TV station.


Lauren Berger.jpgArticle by, Lauren Berger, dubbed "The Intern Queen" after participating in fifteen internships during her four years in college. She built her "Intern Queen"brand in May of 2006 and recently teamed up with Quarterlife to create the Quarterlife Internship Program where students can get FREE access to internships in the entertainment and journalism fields. Berger also provides Internship Advice and Content for students.


I'm so excited for one of my students, Jenna, who has a big interview with a fashion magazine that I set her up with in NYC ! She wrote me today to ask how she can best prepare for the interview. Here are a few internship interview pointers I put together:

1. DO YOUR HOMEWORK. Take an evening and plan to study up on the company you are interviewing with. First, find the company website - most WILL have websites. Study the "About us" tab on the company website. You want to be familiar with when the company was founded and who the founders/leaders of the company are.

2. KNOW THE MISSION. Become familiar with the company mission statement. This information can be found on the company website. You want to slightly reference the mission statement of the company in your interview. If they ask why you think you should work with the company you can say, "Well, I am familiar with the company's mission to ________ and I'm interested in ______which goes hand in hand with the company goals. (or something like that).

3. GOOGLE 'EM. Play around on Google.com and search "News Results" and the company name. You want to be familiar with any recent news that the company has been involved with. You also want to be familiar with their clients and any recent projects they are working on. If any names/topics are "off limits" you will most likely find out from a news article on the subject.

4. PICK OUT YOUR CLOTHES. As if it is the first day of school, your clothing for the interview should be prepared beforehand. You want to dress the part. If the company is extremely formal than you should dress like you already work there. You never want to go TOO casual. If you aren't sure what to wear - always go with a simple suit - for both guys and girls.

5. SPEAK SLOWLY. Don't talk the interviewers ears off. Speak slowly and clearly and don't let your nervous energy speed up your pace.

6. SHOW YOUR PASSION. You want to go into this WANTING this job more than anything. Your passion and excitement needs to shine through. If they ask you if you'll have trouble handling a task, the answer is "NO, I understand that I need to start somewhere and that I can learn something from any situation. This is what I want to do and I can't see myself doing anything else." An employer WANTS someone with a positive attitude and not someone that is going to roll their eyes with every task. This is an internship - you are going to have to do things that aren't that glamorous. You are starting from the bottom!


Lauren Berger.jpgArticle by, Lauren Berger, dubbed "The Intern Queen" after participating in fifteen internships during her four years in college. She built her "Intern Queen"brand in May of 2006 and recently teamed up with Quarterlife to create the Quarterlife Internship Program where students can get FREE access to internships in the entertainment and journalism fields. Berger also provides Internship Advice and Content for students.


Unfortunately my cable package doesn't come with BBC America, so I can't watch the British version of Chef Gordon Ramsay's Kitchen Nightmares (it has a lot more swearing than the American version), and I can't watch Top Gear. I've actually never seen Top Gear, so I don't know a lot about it, but it seems to be a tv show about cars with quite a cult following. It's apparently wildly popular in the UK, and it's also one of the world's most pirated television shows according to Wikipedia. This popularity has spawned American and Australian versions, and the word is that the American version might end up on NBC this spring. Continue reading about Top Gear...


Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


I've said it before, and I'm going to keep saying it. Newspapers are in trouble, and interning with a newspaper that is stuck in the pre-Internet world is a waste of time. You'll be learning skills that are quickly becoming obsolete. Social media is the future of news, but an internship with some blog may not be the reputable resume item that you're looking to add to your resume. So what do you do? You find a newspaper that gets it - one that is embracing the future of news on the web wholeheartedly. A good example is the St. Louis Post-Dispatch, better known as STLtoday.com on the web. They seem to have some pretty cool internship offerings that will help you build skills that will still be useful when you graduate and need to look for a job (things are seriously moving that fast these days). Continue reading about St. Louis Post-Dispatch...


Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


I usually roll my eyes at "stealth stage" startups. It's not that I doubt that they have something really cool up their sleeves; it's just that I don't fully understand the obsession with keeping an idea secret. It's a lot harder to build a business when you can't tell people what you're doing, and as Howard Aiken said, "Don't worry about people stealing an idea. If it's original, you will have to ram it down their throats." With that said, I'm still really intrigued by what Invite Media is up to. They're a Philadelphia based startup that is putting "some of the top statistical minds" to work analyzing and optimizing online display advertising. That's about all that they'll share, but it sounds fascinating. Continue reading about Invite Media...

Willy Franzen.jpg
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


Today's internships are going to be especially sweet, but before we tell you about them, we want to remind you about two sweet deals that we're offering over on One Day, One Job. The first is a free copy of an awesome book called How to Self-Destruct written by career coach and management consultant Jason Seiden (who is partnering with us for our job search training course), and the second is the HP Magic Giveaway, where we and 49 other sites are each giving away $6,000 HP packages to our readers. Now that we've reminded you, let's talk about some sweet internships that might also be recession proof. Do you know what people do when they're unemployed? They eat ice cream. I did it, and I've heard of plenty of others who have done the same. Instead of spending the summer on the couch with a spoon in hand, why don't you think about an internship with Dreyer's? They're a $2 billion company with more than 7,000 employees, and they're all about ice cream. Continue reading about Dreyer's...

Willy Franzen.jpg
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job

Do you love New York City? Are you all about everything that has to do with news, arts, food, and events? If so, you should read Gothamist - the most popular local blog in New York. They've been around since 2003, and they're now doing 4.6 million pageviews a month. That's a lot. Gothamist isn't just a blog, though. It's also a company that manages quite a few other blogs including Chiagoist, LAist, DCist, SFist, Austinist, Bostonist, Houstonist, Phillyist, Seattleist, Londonist, Sampaist, Shanghaiist, and Torontoist. If you need to keep up with what's going on in your city, these are the blogs to go to. Continue reading about Gothamist...

Willy Franzen.jpg
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


We've catered to the PBS junkies before - we've covered internships at PBS and at WTTW11 in Chicago - and we're going to do it again today. WGBH is a non-profit PBS affiliate based out of Boston that also happens to be the "single largest producer of PBS prime-time and online programming." They started out by broadcasting the Boston Symphony Orchestra over the radio in 1951, but they've expanded to television and the web since. It's really amazing how much of PBS's programing comes out of WGBH. One of my all-time favorites was ZOOM, which is a little embarrassing to admit, since I was a bit old to be watching it at the time. Another interesting thing about WGBH that I picked up from Wikipedia is that they're "considered a leader in services for people who are deaf, hard-of-hearing, blind, or visually impaired." WGBH actually "invented television closed captioning, audio description (Descriptive Video Service), and created the Rear Window Captioning System for films." As you can see, WGBH is an innovator not just in public television, but in all media, and probably a great place to work. Continue reading about WGBH...

Willy Franzen.jpg
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


If you've seen our contest for the HP Magic Giveaway called Bringing Magic to Your Job Search, you know that random acts of kindness are sometimes rewarded handsomely. It was probably Third Grade when I first heard the term "random acts of kindness," as we were celebrating Random Acts of Kindness week. I remember making a big chain of construction paper links that each had a random act of kindness that one of my classmates or I had done. It was kind of hokey, but it got the point across. Construction paper might be for kids, but random acts of kindness are for everyone. You should never outgrow them, and that's what the RAKE Project, a Washington, DC based non-profit, is preaching. Their founders are anonymous (although you'll probably meet them if you score an internship), as they consider themselves part of the "working poor," so they've started this organization to offer "emergency fund relief to working middle class people." Continue reading about RAKE Project...

Willy Franzen.jpg
Article by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


My mother sent me to Ballroom Dancing School in 4th and 5th grade. My friends and I called it "Monday Night Karate" at school to avoid being made fun of, but every Monday night we got dressed up in a jacket and tie and had to act prim and proper and say things like, "Good evening Mrs. Jones. It's a pleasure to see you again." At least I didn't have to wear white gloves like the girls did. The real goal of the weekly class was to teach us manners, but you would think that I would have learned a step or two. I didn't. I am a terrible dancer, so I'm probably not the best person to tell you about Dancing in the Streets, a NYC based non-profit organization that "strives to illuminate the urban experience with free public performances and site-specific installations that examine the kinetic life and history of natural and architectural public spaces," but I'm going to tell you about them anyway. Continue reading about Dancing in the Streets...

Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


Posted on Saturday, November 29, 2008

I don't know about you, but my stomach still hurts a little bit from eating too much on Thanksgiving. Hunger should be the last thing on my mind, but as I think about how lucky we are to have a holiday that is all about stuffing our faces, I can't forget that the first Thanksgiving was preceded by meager times. The Pilgrims faced a lot of suffering and starvation before they got to celebrate a Thanksgiving, and, unfortunately, there are many people in this world who still continue to battle hunger. Action Against Hunger is a New York City based non-profit organization that hopes to change this by "providing innovative solutions to battle hunger." They work across five continents in five program areas (Nutrition, Water & Sanitation, Food Security, Health, and Advocacy). They're doing excellent work, and they also appear to have an excellent internship program. Continue reading about Action Against Hunger...

Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


Posted on Friday, November 28, 2008

Happy Black Friday! May you not get in a fist fight over a discounted video game system or flat screen TV. Today is the official start of the holiday shopping season, and legend has it that it is also the first day of the year that major retailers "go into the black." For those of you not familiar with accounting terminology, that means that they finally become profitable. Whether or not this is true depends on the retailer, but you have to wonder why a store wouldn't just open up for November and December and sit dormant the rest of the year if it's really that bad. Today, instead of looking at jobs in retail, we're going to go the other way and look at a major accounting firm, Ernst & Young. They might not be the first company that you think of on Black Friday, but you can be sure that they spend a lot of time analyzing the results. And, of course, they hire a ton of interns. Continue reading about Ernst & Young...

Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job


I'm not going to stop harping on the fact that the future of media is online, and that any journalism student who wants to get hired right out of college needs to be familiar with the "new media." ReadWriteWeb is a perfect example of new media. It's a "blog that provides Web Technology news, reviews and analysis," and it's the world's 14th most linked to blog according to Technorati. ReadWriteWeb has over a quarter of a million subscribers, and they continue to break news relevant to web nerds like me. Whether you're already a web nerd, or you're just realizing that you need to be one to get a job, an internship with ReadWriteWeb might be just what you're looking for Continue reading about ReadWriteWeb...

Thumbnail image for Willy Franzen.jpgArticle by Willy Franzen of One Day, One Internship and One Day, One Job