Rock Your Next Internship at Every Stage of the Game

You’ve just come across the most perfect internship opportunity. What do you do next?

Not long ago, I was in your shoes. Then the tables turned, and I went from eager potential intern to the office’s eagerly-seeking-smart-interns internship coordinator. I encountered some fantastic—as well as some not-so-fantastic—would-be interns and was able to view the entire process in a whole new light.

So before you hit send on that email with your resume attached, check out these tips to give yourself the best chance at getting it right at every step of your internship.

Applying for the Internship

Use common sense. Business 101: professionalism and courtesy. I once received a completely blank email from a student with only their resume attached. I kid you not. I stared at the email, dumbstruck, for a good five minutes, confused as to why someone would actually send a blank email—no greeting, no message, no nothing.

A concise, upbeat and professional message in the body of the email that expresses interest in the available internship goes a long way and gives you the opportunity to wow the employer with your clean writing before they even open your resume.

Do your homework. Come to the interview with knowledge of the company you’re applying to.

The first question I tend to ask in an interview is, “What do you know about our company?” Of course, I don’t expect a prospective intern to know everything about the company I work for, but I do expect them to have done some research and have a general understanding of what we do. From there, I’m more than happy to share details about the company, our goals and our expectations for interns.

And when I say “do your homework,” I mean more than simply glancing at a few pages on the company’s website. Check out their social media presence, explore their press room and do a Google News search for recent news articles on the company for an outsider’s perspective.

During Your Interview

Ask questions. There’s nothing worse in an interview than asking, “Are there any questions I can answer for you?” and hearing the long pause and then “Ummm…nope. I think you covered it all.”

In the half hour I usually spend interviewing an internship candidate, I know for sure that I can’t cover the entire scope of our company and its goals. Even if you don’t have a question, think of one. Better yet, come prepared with smart questions. Asking questions makes you look knowledgeable and proves that you’ve done your research.

This blog post on Corn on the Job provides an excellent list of 50 smart sample questions.

Follow up. Immediately after the interview (preferably within 12-24 hours), send a sincere thank you email. If you really want to stand out, send an email AND a handwritten thank you note.

When I was in college just a few years ago, I thought sending a physical thank you note was pretty standard, but I’ve quickly learned they are far and few between. In fact, a U.S. News & World Report article reported that only about 60 percent of interviewees actually follow up after an interview with a thank you note. Yikes!

The people who send thank you notes usually turn out to be rockstar interns. Those who don’t follow up in some way or another? Let’s just say they likely don’t get the internship, no matter how awesome their resume or interview.

During the Internship

Bring a notepad everywhere you go. And use it. That part is key. Taking notes during a meeting or during a one-on-one with your boss or internship supervisor shows you’re engaged in what they’re telling you and committed to doing a good job following through on an assignment.

Take initiative. Bored? I don’t think so. Even if you’ve completed your assignments for the day, there’s always something you can do to help.

If you don’t feel comfortable asking your supervisor for something new to work on, do research on the industry you’re working in, ask a colleague from another department if there’s something you can help with or develop a new idea you can present to your superiors.

Find a way to make yourself useful, and believe me, your boss will notice that you’ve gone above and beyond.

Do you have any tips for excelling in the internship process? We hope you’ll share with us in the comments below!

Top 7 Survival Tips for New Grads in the Workplace

For most traditional new graduates, moving from the school world into the workplace is a huge culture shock.

They are going from an environment where everyone has been the same age and generational outlook to a suddenly diverse social environment with people of all ages and backgrounds present. Learning the ropes of a new job, mastering the social ladder of a workplace, and in general, trying to figure out business etiquette can be pretty frustrating to new workers.

Here are some survival tips for new grads on navigating their bold new venture in the work world:

1. Be Patient

Today’s graduates are used to the fast pace of technology and in a way, this has built up a low tolerance for being willing to wait. Especially for job promotions or advancement. “Yeah, yeah, I get it. Now let’s move on,” seems to be the mantra.

But unfortunately, the big wheels of business don’t move that quickly and sometimes the opportunity simply isn’t there yet. Take a deep breath. It will happen, but not necessarily on YOUR timelines. It’s all in the timing… great things come to those that wait!

2. Don’t Forget To Thank Those That Help You

Manners do matter, and those that have made the effort to help you remember who has thanked them or not. This can have far-reaching impacts on your career – those that become your biggest supporters (and this is reinforced by taking the time to thank them) can open doors you can’t even imagine…both now and in the future.

3. Realize Your Career Will Be A Series Of Choices, Not “A” Choice

I read somewhere the average high school student is going to have 23 jobs in their lifetime. So, if statistics don’t lie, you definitely won’t be putting all your eggs in one basket. Don’t like the work that you are doing and it isn’t rewarding enough? Then look for the skills that are transferable out of that job and roll them into something you DO enjoy doing.

4. Tread Lightly and Carefully

I am not saying you need to fear your co-workers, but you should know that the office political environment can play out in similar fashion as social cliques back in school…with deadlier consequences. Refrain from gossiping (which is a behavior common in high school and college) and choose your words carefully.

Until you have an accurate read on each person in your office, keep your cards close to your chest. Gossip never has a place in the workplace, but it does happen, and that person you confided in could just as easily turn around and stab you in the back… torpedoing your career. Keep your own counsel.

5. Education Doesn’t End With Your Graduation

Not too many career centers or colleges / universities prepare students for the staggering fact that their education isn’t ending… in fact, it is just starting.  Beyond your formal schooling, there’s a whole new universe of learning called “professional development” – this is the stuff that will give you the job-specific skills to be successful.

The sooner you can become aware of the fact that you need to demonstrate continuous learning by taking classes, trainings, workshops, webinars, and attending conferences/tradeshows /conventions, as well as gaining industry certifications, you will be light years ahead of anyone else in your graduating class.

This process does not end until you retire. And if you ignore this area, you will have a much more difficult time with career advancement because employers are hiring subject matter experts. How can you build your knowledge?

6. Network

In school, this was called making friends. And you’ll be doing that same thing, but in a business context. Some of my best friends were met while we were working together, some are closer friends now than others, but the point is that networking really is building a connection with people with whom you have some kind of shared interest or goal.

When you have that “spiderweb” of people in your network, you’ll find that job and life opportunities flow much easier your way because these are the people who can and want to help you.

7. Realize Your Office Mates Aren’t Your Parents

I say this tongue-in-cheek, but the subtext to this statement is really important: you are now on your own and you cannot expect anyone to pick up your slack. Everything you do from this point forward is business, and not bound by any bonds other than your employment agreement. It’s pretty darned scary to be suddenly put out in the “cold” after having warm, supportive environments at home and school.

The work world doesn’t operate that way… you either sink or swim. You are judged by your actions and you should always do the right thing and never expect someone to be there to catch you when you fall. That’s called life, and over the course of your career, you are going to make mistakes and have to learn from them. That’s called experience.

How to Handle Criticism Like a Pro

It’s hard to feel warm and fuzzy inside when our karaoke rendition of “Call Me Maybe” receives 100 mean YouTube comments. But it’s important to take criticism in stride. Being able to hear people’s opinions can improve our relationships, academic performance, and job satisfaction. Find out how to handle what others have to say without shedding a tear.

Hurtful or helpful? — why it matters.

Criticism’s a term for judgment or evaluation, good or bad. And it can pop up everywhere: from college papers, to personal blogs, to family get-togethers and chats with friends. (That dress does not look good on you. But have a great date!) There are lots of reasons why people offer criticism, like feeling jealous or insecure in a romantic relationship: You always forget to call! At work, organization leaders may also use criticism to help employees improve their work (and make them tremble before approaching the boss’s office).

But not all criticism is bad news bears. Constructive criticism — offering thoughtful feedback — can help us gain valuable insight into our actions and increase trust between people [3] [4]. Among college students, constructive criticism (here’s how this paragraph could be better) may boost that GPA more than deconstructive criticism (this paper is awful). On the other hand, deconstructive criticism — the “you suck!” kind — involves accusing people and pointing out their faults without suggestions for improvement. Unsurprisingly, deconstructive criticism can hurt people’s self-esteem, making them feel guilty for not performing up to par. But whether criticism is useful or just plain humiliating, there are ways to deal with it and move on.

Do This, Not That — Your Action Plan

Being sensitive to criticism can be a sticky situation. Sometimes people may even stop working toward a goal out of fear of being critiqued. But don’t give in to those worries about potential critiques. Here are some helpful tips to handle any kind of criticism that heads our way:

Listen up. Figure out whether the criticism is constructive or simply rude. You may feel hurt when your partner says you’re controlling, but having him point out this flaw may help you change and ultimately save the relationship. If criticism could be helpful, lend all ears and try to learn from it instead of getting defensive.

Respond calmly. Be respectful no matter what, and thank someone if the feedback is useful [5]. If the critique is uncalled for (that story you wrote was crap!), kill em with kindness. A simple smile makes you the bigger person.

Don’t take it personally. Try to remove yourself from the situation and focus on what’s being critiqued. That C+ midterm doesn’t reflect your A+ personality! Instead, it’s a reminder to study a little harder next time, skip all that partying the night before, or realize that calculus simply isn’t your biggest strength.

Manage stress. When we’re constantly on edge, we can feel out of control and unable to respond to criticism with a clear head. So take a deeeep breath to keep those stress levels in check.

Keep on keepin on’. Remember that the criticism represents just one person’s point of view. Know what your strengths are and don’t let other people’s opinions keep you from working hard towards a goal. If somebody says you’re too short to be a power forward, start working on that jump shot!

Top Ways to Improve Your Leadership Skills

Whether you consciously aware of it or not, on some level you are continually leading yourself and others – you don’t necessarily have to have a large team reporting to you to be considered a leader.

In one leadership study, qualities such as assertiveness, adaptability, intelligence and conscientiousness were cited as the most important. Research clearly shows that transformational leaders – leaders who are positive, inspiring, and who empower and develop followers – are better leaders. They are more valued by followers and have higher performing teams.

As a result, it would only make sense that you strive to improve your leadership skills and get the most out of life for everyone in your sphere. Consider some of the following tips for how to become a better leader and think about ways that you can implement these strategies in your daily life.

1. Have a clear vision

Take the time to share your vision, your mission and your goals with your team. Your job as a leader is to provide a clear path that your team can follow. Your team also must understand why the goals you have set are valuable to them. Take the time to explain to them, in detail, why and how your vision will not only improve the business, but how it will benefit them in return. Include your team in your strategic planning sessions, ask for feedback and get them to “buy into” your vision for the future of the company.

2. Know and utilize your strengths and gifts.

You have unique gifts that you were born with and personal strengths you’ve developed over your lifetime. Realizing and utilizing these gifts and strengths will assist you in being a formidable leader.

3. Be Passionate

Would you look to someone for guidance and leadership if they did not truly care about the goals of the group? Of course not! Great leaders are not just focused on getting group members to finish tasks; they have a genuine passion and enthusiasm for the projects they work on. Start by thinking of different ways that you can express your zeal. Let people know that you care about their progress. When one person shares something with the rest of the group, be sure to tell them how much you appreciate such contributions.

4. Live in accordance with your morals and values.

Making choices and taking actions out of accordance with your morals and values leaves you with a nagging “bad” feeling. This feeling seeping in from your subconscious mind hinders your success in your career and your relationships. On the other hand, making choices and taking actions aligned with your morals and values helps you succeed almost effortlessly. People sense integrity and will naturally respect your opinion and leadership.

5. Serve as a role model

The best leaders walk the walk and talk the talk. As a result, group members admire these leaders and work to emulate these behaviors. If you want to become a better leader, work on modeling the qualities that you would like to see in your team members.

6. Set definitive goals and follow concrete action plans.

You have to know where your destination is before you can map out a plan to get there. To improve your leadership skills, first set specific life goals with appropriate timelines. Design your goals by moving backwards from the end of your life to the present week. Then, formulate action plans you can commit to that will get you to where you want to be.

7. Maintain a positive attitude.

No one respects a grumpy or negative person. With a positive attitude you are looking at the bright side of life. People are naturally attracted to you when you have a positive attitude. By being positive, you will lead a happier life, as well as be surrounded by other positive people. You will also magically attract exciting offers and possibilities.

8. Improve communication skills.

Having great leadership skills includes your being able to clearly and specifically communicate your vision, goals, skills, intentions, and expectations to others. This also includes your ability to listen to what other people are consciously or unconsciously communicating. To become a great communicator, continually strive to improve your verbal, nonverbal, and listening skills.

9. Motivate others to greatness.

The greatest leaders are those who include everyone in their sphere of influence by recognizing each person’s greatest value. To be one of these leaders, look beyond the obvious and see others with insight and compassion. Many of history’s greatest leaders have admitted that they rose to the top because another leader recognized and harnessed their potential.

10. Be willing to admit and learn from failures and weaknesses.

Face it – No one is perfect, and everyone has made a mistake or two in their lives! The most successful leaders know that the key to success is not in avoiding falling or failing, but to learn from their mistakes. As a strong leader, you will also be able to communicate your weaknesses to your team, so that you and your team can appoint someone who excels at that particular task or activity.

11. Continue to educate and improve yourself.

Great leaders continue to improve themselves in every possible way. The person who thinks he is an expert, has a lot more to learn. Never stop learning. Be receptive to everyone’s perceptions and information from around the world and beyond. Always grow and learn.

4 Keys to Preparing for Your Career while in College

Your job is what you will be doing during the major portion of your life and it is what that will define how your life will be spent. You have to spend half of your waking hours on your job which is why this most critical decision of your life warrants for a lot more attention than what it currently gets.

Keeping in view the importance and magnitude of the impact of your job on your life, no amount of planning can be enough for it. Therefore, it is recommended that you start giving your job and career a serious thought early on. By ‘early’ we mean the times when you are at school and your fellows are still planning their proms and partying hard!

Yogi Berra very rightly once said that “It gets late early out there” and this is true for the job market as well. As soon as you are in your final study year, you need to start preparing the ground and get in touch with the job world out there.

Here is a guideline to help you get on with the act to get the early bird’s worm!

Find your passion – To start with, you must pay the utmost importance to your inner voice and ask yourself what is it that you will love to do for the rest of your life as Confucius’s words of wisdom - “Choose a job you love, and you will never have to work a day in your life” - stand very valid even today.

Research & shortlist employers – After you are adequately sure of what you want to become, do your research and make a list of organizations that have the jobs that you are interested in. Scrutinize this list carefully and pick out the ones that you find in line with your personal values, work environment, lifestyle, compensation expectations or any other criteria that are in the value-list. Looking for information on employers can be tough but if you have the will, you will get your way. Make use of your network and contacts like your family & teachers; use the social media platforms like LinkedIn & FaceBook; approach their current employees and ask them your questions and you will surely get the information that will bring out the true image of that organization’s ‘employer brand’.  Certain clues like a company’s culture, dress codes, availability of federal labor law posters, working relations and employees’ attitudes can give out lots of information about that workplace.

Be known – Once you have your wish-list of employers ready, make it a point to get in contact with them and never miss any opportunity to network with anyone from those organizations. You have a number of options to become a ‘familiar face’ to your target organizations. Think about doing your projects with those companies, find internship openings, add them to your LinkedIn network, get in touch with their hiring heads and make the best use of job fairs and on-campus events where your favorite employers are present. After making that first contact, never lose sight of them and find suitable occasions and events to keep reminding them of yourself until you are ready to apply for jobs following your passing out from college.

Persevere and succeed – There will be times when you might not find your way through the first time around but keep in mind that perseverance and a positive outlook is the key to success. Never let your beliefs waiver for a second and keep pushing ahead gently until you will land your dream job which is bound to get you to the top and expand your horizons so that you never have to ‘work a day in your life’.

Budget 2013: An open letter to the finance minister

The writer is the Director of Manav Rachna International University

Dear Finance Minister,

Thank you for talking of women. Women empowerment has suddenly become the 'holy grail' word. Everyone is talking about how the budget is women empowering. The smile on Soniaji's face has become the mascot of your budget and also the media.

As a woman needing to feel empowered I read and re- read and then played your budget speech over and over again but I did not feel empowered. There must be something amiss here and with me.

Your magnanimous proposal to set up a special Public Sector Unit bank solely for women, to support businesses run by women and a whooping Rs 1000-crore initial capital for the bank made me perplexed and confused. How is an all women bank going to help me? Will it give me loans at a cheaper interest rate (though I would prefer interest free); will this bank give me higher rates on my savings account? Will this bank not ask for collaterals and documents from the rural women and those with nothing to offer against loans? How many branches will you set up so that women from all over the country can avail of the facilities? And the answer to all these is NO.

But don't lose heart here Sir, your bank will contribute to the research as now we can do a comparative analysis of 'Women Banks vs Men Banks' and prove that being a man or a woman will affect banking. . The second contribution it will make is in terms of safety, instead of men pushing women in bank lines, women will be pushing women.

Sir, let me give you a shortcut...gender sensitization training of your bank employees and increasing the quota of women employees will work just as well, you can increase the interest on savings for women account holders, decrease the interest rates for women on loans, increase the quota for business loans to women entrepreneurs by lower interest rates. Give incentives to women, lower the tax returns for women, etc, etc.

Sir, you said, "Recent incidents have cast a long, dark shadow on our liberal and progressive credentials. As more women enter public spaces - for education or work or access to services or leisure - there are more reports of violence against them. We stand in solidarity with our girl children and women." And therefore, you proposed to set up 'Nirbhaya Fund' and allocated Rs 1,000 crore to it. You also proposed to provide an additional sum of 200 crore to Ministry of Women and Child Development to design schemes for women belonging to vulnerable groups.

I almost clapped at the performance which seemed so real. Only Sir, how is it going to be used? Over the years the money has been allocated to the department and neither children nor women are better off. We all know who has benefited and who is safe!

Maybe Sir, you could consider allocating money for safety of women through investing more in the security of women, and training and recruitment of women in the police force. Maybe Sir, you can allocate extra funds for the health and education of women and children. Maybe Sir, you can provide more employment avenues for women in the rural areas. Maybe Sir, you can consider allocating more funds to encourage women for higher education and skill development. And maybe Sir, you can think that LPG is not only a commodity for earning but it is the only way most people can cook food.

Yours truly

Not So Empowered Women

* PS Sir, gold and women are synonyms.
The writer is the Director of Manav Rachna International University