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| Lauren Berger, The Intern Queen dressed head-to-toe in The Limited at N.C. State University |
When a girl receives an e-mail from her college saying that Lauren Berger, THE Intern Queen will be speaking on campus at 6 p.m. November 22nd, she makes sure that her bottom is firmly planted in a chair by 5:59 p.m. with her notepad, pen and fully charged iPhone in her lap, so that she can take notes and live tweet throughout the event.
Last night, I was that girl.
Lauren is the founder of the internqueen.com, and the author of All Work, No Pay: Finding an Internship, Building Your Resume, Making Connections, and Gaining Job Experience. She completed 15 internships by the time she received her undergraduate degree from the University of Central Florida and had landed her dream job at US Weekly magazine 2 years before graduation.
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| I got a free copy of her book last night! |
Though she dropped several gems of knowledge last night, these were my four major take aways:
4. Handle Business With a Sense of Urgency
Lauren was able to score her first internship at a pr firm when she was a freshman in college with no experience on her resume besides the Limited Too and Red Lobster, all because she followed up with the internship coordinator less than 24 hours after inquiring about the position. The internship coordinator told her, "I'm impressed, I've never had a student follow up within 24 hours" and not only gave her an internship, but also an internship position.
3. Network With Your Peers
Lauren stressed repeatedly the importance of forming lasting relationships with peers, especially those who are interning with you. She raised the valid and easy to overlook point, that just like you, the other interns are young people focused on success. Eventually, they will be head honchos and leaders in the industry. Relationships with them are just as important as relationships with current professionals.
2. Rejection is a Part of Success
She did not sugar coat it or try to sidestep around the conversation. Lauren told us we are going to be rejected, multiple times, multiple ways...for the rest of our lives. She did say however, "You don't take no for an answer, and whenever there is a no, you find a yes." Moral of the story being, where there is a will, there is a way.
1. Maintain a Professional Image
Lauren shared stories of two students who she helped get summer internships and how both were dismissed from their positions due to social media accounts that were damaging to their professional personas. Social media is used a lot for our personal life but we have to keep in mind that is often accessible by those in our professional lives as well.
I was so glad that I had the chance to hear Lauren speak. I would have really liked to stay after and chatted with her for a bit but I had another meeting that I had to get to. A big thank you to the Limited for sponsoring this event and Lauren for sharing such valuable advice!
P.S. - This Friday at the Triangle Town Center Limited location, there will be an exclusive shopping event from 6-8p.m. There will be swag bags with items selected by Lauren , food, drinks and lots of discounts!
