What Do YOU Look For In An Internship?

Yesterday, The Huffington Post published a short piece on how employers' must consider the needs and wants of potential interns in order to create a successful internship program for their company.  It makes sense, right?  As college students constantly on the prowl for work experience, we strive to find the company or organization that meets both our personal and professional needs.  While one person may be looking for a "hands-on" type of office environment, another may be more interested in gaining networking experience and mentorship at their internship. 

The article included the following infographic created by InternMatch--an online platform that works to match intern candidates with employers.  See what other interns take into consideration when applying for internships.  Where do you fit in?

Intern Profile: Conor Loughlin

Major/Minor: Communications/ Psychology

Previous Internships:Madison Square Garden Network, New Jersey Devils Marketing Department

View from Conor's workspace at the Red Bull Arena!

How did you find your internships?

I found it online at first just by looking up marketing internships that were related to sports. Then once I narrowed it down, I used a connection that my dad had at Madison Square Garden to help me get the internship.

What new skills have you learned through your internship experience(s)?

I learned a lot of new and different skills. This was really my first 9-5 job, so things like commuting and working in a office were totally unique experiences. I also learned a lot about working together as a creative team and it was really cool to see the process of how the commercials for the network went from ideas to actual TV and print commercials.

Describe a conflict or problem you faced as an intern, and how you coped with or found a solution to that problem.

There was one instance where, through some oversight, the wrong commercials had been running all day and were placed for the next day incorrectly and we found out at 4:15. We all had to scramble to make the changes to a locked television lineup and various other alterations, but we were able to pull it together last minute and I was happy to do whatever I could to help.

What was your favorite part of your internship(s)?

Definitely going on the shoots for commercial footage. We went to some cool places like Jones Beach Theater and the new Red Bulls Stadium in New Jersey. It was a nice escape from the office for a day as well as learning even more about shooting commercials and advertising.


What did you find out about yourself after completing your first internship?  Did your career goals and/or aspirations shift or change?

My goals are mostly the same, but working for MSG and the Devils definitely helped me focus on my career path. The MSG internship was a little bit more on the technical side of advertising, which is not really where my interest lies. However, my experience at the network helped me confirm that I wanted to pursue a profession on the creative side of marketing/advertising.

What advice do you have for new interns?

My advice would be to have fun with your internship. Internships take up a lot more of your time than you think, especially if you work 5 days a week and have a long commute.  I would say that you should just try and have some fun with your new job. Make friends with some of the people who work there and make a few connections for down the road and it will be a great experience. Also its important to understand that most of the time the people who you work with want to help you so ask questions and show some interest and it will go a long way. 

Saving Money as an Intern

Let’s face it—as college students, we are far from rich.  In fact, most of us still rely on our parents to finance our lives.  Even worse, we are expected to secure internships that may not even put any money in our wallets.  While we take the job to gain experience, it is difficult to survive an internship experience on a budget.  While living the intern-life, take these tips into consideration to stretch your dollar and make your savings last! 

1. Bargain Shopping—Every new intern deserves to treat him or herself to a new wardrobe before starting a new job (OK—maybe not an entire wardrobe, but at least a new shirt or two!)  Regardless of your usual spending habits, shop for internship attire wisely.  As we know, the pockets of an intern are not deep.  Do not be afraid of scouring the racks of stores like Target or Walmart for discounted items on classic pieces for your new professional ensemble.  Even better, raid your best friend’s closet (with their permission, of course) and swap different looks for free--that is, if you are the same size!

2. Transportation—Sometimes, just getting to your internship every day can come at a great cost.  Before your first day, map out the most cost-effective way to travel to your job site.  Can you car pool with a friend that works nearby?  Is it cheaper to drive or take public transportation?  Does the local bus or train station offer discounts for weekly or monthly travelers?  Are student rates applicable?  Do your research—you will be surprised by how much money you can save by planning ahead!

3. Food—Grabbing a coffee and a bagel at the Starbucks next to your office for your morning caffeine fix or agreeing to meet with friends for lunch everyday can cost an intern a pretty penny.  While an occasional meal out of the office can be a fun treat, save some cash by making coffee in the office pantry and packing lunch from home.  You can still socialize with your friends and coworkers at the local coffee shop—just bring your lunch bag with you!   

4. Learn to save—For those of you lucky enough to be paid for your work, use your bi-weekly paycheck or stipend as an opportunity to learn the value of a dollar.  Rather than spend your money the second it is deposited into your bank account (don’t worry, we’re all guilty of this!), set aside at least 50% of what you made into your savings.  You will be shocked at the amount you will have saved by the end of your internship.  Depending on how much money you make, you may be able to treat yourself to the new XBOX or pair of shoes that you wanted all semester!

Looking Ahead

As the fall internship season comes to a close, many of you are researching potential internship opportunities for the spring semester (or summer vacation, for you overachievers).  Yesterday, www.forbes.com released the top ten internship programs as researched by Vault Career Intelligence for students seeking new and exciting possibilities for experiential education.

In order to create this list, Vault Career Intelligence reached out to 500 of the 1,000 companies listed in its directory to participate in an internship survey in which 140 companies responded.  Vault gathered over 7,500 surveys from interns that rated their individual experiences based on the quality of life, compensation and benefits, interview process, career development and full time employee prospects.  Because Vault only considered companies that had ten or more interns respond to their survey, only about 100 companies were considered for their cumulative list.  Admittedly, this meant that companies with critically acclaimed internship programs such as Google and Microsoft were not considered for this year's directory.

Ladies and gentlemen, without further adieu, here are the results for the best internships for 2014!

1. BP America Intern and Co-op Program
2. Bain & Company
3. Bates White Economic Consulting Summer Consultant Program
4. Elliott Davis Internship Experience
5. Evercore Partners Investment Banking Summer Analyst and Associate Program
6. Northwestern-Mutual
7. Plante Moran
8. Houlihan Lokey
9. Boston Consulting Group Summer Internship Program
10. Capital Fellows Program

While it is fun to consider the possibility of interning at one of the aforementioned companies, the reality is that these programs are extremely competitive.  Therefore, do not get too discouraged or down on yourself if these opportunities seem justtttttt a tad out of your reach.  While it never hurts to submit an application to your dream internship, it is important to keep in mind that there is an experiential education opportunity out there for everyone.  

Do your research, use the contacts you have made at your current internship to your advantage, and be confident in your skill set and determination to succeed.  While not every intern can land a job at BP America, you will find an internship that best suits you. Remember, it is not necessarily about the "name" of your employer, but about your personal experience.  Where are you going to learn the best about your desired field? Where are you going to expand on your current skills?  Where can you as an employee make the greatest impact on a company?  These are the questions you should be asking yourself when you apply for your next internship!

Internship Coordinator Profile: Gerald McNulty

Name: Gerald McNulty 

Position: Director, Communication Internship Program at Marist College

1. What is your professional background?

I graduated from Marist College in 1979.  I went to work for a small daily newspaper  called the Port Jervis Union Gazette, which no longer exists, that was in Orange County NY.  I then relocated to Vermont with my wife and freelanced for a while.  I was hired by the Associated Press in Montpelier, Vermont, the state capital, and worked with them for a little under a year.  I then took a job with a newspaper there, the Montpelier Times Argus.  I was a reporter in Montpelier for about four years, and then switched over to desk work, as its called here in the business.  We relocated to Poughkeepsie where we had some friends in the business and I went to work at the Poughkeepsie Journal.  I worked for the Poughkeepsie Journal for eleven years.  I held a variety of positions there, from copy desk editor and copy desk chief to Sunday editor to city editor.  I was the city editor for seven and a half years.  In 1996, I changed careers.  My old internship director, Bob Norman, had retired the year before.  I took over for what Bob had been doing and spent the next couple of years redesigning and reformatting the internship program.  It really is almost nothing like what it was, but that was thirty years ago.  I have been the internship director in Communication since 1996.  I have supervised over 3,000 students.  I have created the International internship program, along with the international folks in 1999 that branched out first to London and Dublin and Sydney, Australia, and I understand it is now being adopted in Florence.  In 2002, I launched the “New York Media Experience” program, which was a Manhattan-based residential hybrid internship and online course program, and that was renamed in 2009 to “Marist in Manhattan,” which is what it is known as now. 

2. Through the Communication Internship Program at Marist, you work with several students and interns.  What is your favorite part of working with these students?

The whole idea is empowerment and independence.  That is my favorite part—my favorite part is when students...come back to my office and tell me that they have been hired, or when their internship experience has literally translated into jobs.  While that’s the goal, that is almost uncommon.  What is much more common is for many students, not all, but many to become really independent over the course of one or two or three internships.  Another favorite part…is when students I haven’t really talked to in six months or a year stroll in and tell me that they have attained that second or third internship—and that they did that without me because we got them started a year before when they needed help.  That is the goal—the goal is for them to become very capable career seekers, if you will. 

3. In your professional opinion, what is the value of internship experience?

It’s real world.  It is reality, in that career setting.  That is what you can’t get.  You cannot get that experience anywhere but that environment.    

4. How many internships should a college student complete before graduation?

I wouldn’t put an arbitrary number on it, because there are so many ways to do experiential education.  Certainly, as a rule of thumb, it is good for students to have two different work experiences or internship experiences.  But, for some students, doing an extensive full time semester like we do for “Marist in Manhattan,” it might be enough.  For some students, it is a singular in-depth experience that changes the way they view themselves and gives them a leg up, and that is fine.  For the next student, they may have to do two or three because of where they are in their head, their personal development, their maturity level or their career choice.  One of the values is learning what you do not want to do.  It is very difficult to explain to students who have developed a pragmatic approach to education.  That pragmatic approach is understandable, on the one hand, but is also very shortsighted on the other hand, which is normal when you are 20 years old.  Learning comes from practice and learning comes from experience and it doesn’t happen all at once.

5. If you were looking to hire an intern, what qualities or characteristics would you deem most important?  How can an intern make an impression at their new job?

Maturity, because of the demographic.  The typical college student is working on that.  They are at that point in their lives where that is something that they are working on.  They are getting better at it all the time, but they are obviously not there at 19 or 20 years old, not necessarily.  The candidates who stand out are the ones who are intellectually curious but accept their role.  The candidates who stand out are the ones who challenge their supervisors on an intellectual basis as opposed to an emotional basis.  They see the value of the work as opposed to the value of themselves in the work.  That is a difficult thing to do at that age, it is very hard, and if you can see that lineation or begin to see it at 19 or 20 years old, that separates you from the group.

  

6. What is the best way for interns to stay connected with their supervisors/coworkers?

It is a difficult thing.  What I would say, is first I would back up a little bit and try to think of how it works and what is at stake…Yes you are an intern, yes you worked for them.  They have a lot of different interns there.  Do you really expect the contact to say that you were the best one out of the interns there?  What is he going to say to the other seven?  Maybe you were, maybe you weren’t.  Now, fast forward three months or six months.  Eight new interns came and went.  Four more months go by, another eight are there now.  That’s a lot more interns since the last time you were there!  This doesn’t mean we never reach out.  What I’m saying is, be realistic.  Reach out, ask for a recommendation, keep in touch, but be realistic.  I try to tell students that their job is to make a connection.  Don’t get so charged up or take it so personally when you do not get a call back. 

What really works?  What really works in a work situation is the same way it works with friends and family.  Try to make real connections with people.  Not the fake ones, not the courtesy business ones, and you will know when you make a real connection.  It will be difficult to do.  You may be an intern at some place where you work with three different supervisors and ten other interns, and you may not connect with anybody. That is possible.  The flip side is that you are in a situation where you work with ten to fifteen people and you really connect with one person, but you connected with them.  Just like with a friend, send an email once a week to see how they are doing.  It becomes more of a personal thing than a professional thing.  You have to be more tuned in to your own aura and know who liked the work you did and respected you, and then connect on that work level.  That is hard to do and it will not happen everyday.  But when it does happen, you need to be paying attention.  

Meeting Manners

As an intern, chances are you will have the opportunity to sit in on department or company-wide meetings quite frequently.  You may be exposed to different sectors of the business, meet new employees or clients, and/or become privy to important (and perhaps private) information.  To make an outstanding impression on your supervisor or manager, it is important to remember the following pieces of advice while in a meeting setting.

1. Be present--Undoubtedly, all employees face distractions while in the office. However, you can avoid some of the most tempting distractions in a meeting quite easily.  For example, unless it is absolutely necessary, avoid taking your cell phone or lap top into the conference room or area.  Chances are (especially being an intern) any message or email that comes in throughout the duration of the meeting can wait. Instead, focus your attention on the content being discussed.  Be punctual, listen, contemplate, comprehend and analyze the information that is discussed, and look interested in the conversation--even if you aren't.  You do NOT want to look like Michelle Tanner...

2. Take notes--Come prepared to every meeting with a notebook and pen or pencil. You wouldn't show up to class without these essential items, would you?  (OK--maybe some of you college juniors and seniors would these days, but you get the point). Taking notes the old fashioned way will make you seem as though you are engaged in the conversation and the subject matter at hand--which you should be.  Often, the notes you take in a meeting will come in handy when working on projects or assignments for your department.  Believe me, your boss will notice that you are paying attention, and may even check some of his or her information against your notes.

3. Be active--If you are in a meeting with the CEO of a huge corporation, you probably will not speak unless spoken to. However, you should be able to read whether or not it is appropriate to participate in conversation while in an office meeting.  More than likely, your supervisor or coworkers will appreciate your insight and comments, even if a question or comment was not directly pointed at you.  Remember, you were hired for the internship for a reason.  Your opinions and your intelligence matters.  Do not be afraid to become involved in the conversation if you feel that it is warranted.

4. Understand "confidentiality"--Work under the assumption that all of the material covered in any meeting that you attend is private or confidential.  Sometimes, meetings focus on undisclosed information such as new business or finances.  Often, you will be able to read what content should or should not be released to others.  Your judgement is key, but it is better to safe than sorry. I would suggest avoiding disclosing any information to individuals outside of the meeting (other employees, former, current or future clients, etc.) before checking in with your manager or supervisor.

5. Ask questions--Most of the time, interns are not expected to understand every facet of the company they are working for--especially when they first start the job.  The only way to learn more about your employer is to ask meaningful questions.  If there is something you are unsure about or something that you need clarified, do not be afraid to ask a coworker or supervisor.  Even if you feel more comfortable waiting until a break in the meeting or even until after the meeting is complete, it is better to get an answer to your question(s) straight from the source than trying to figure it out for yourself!  As an aside, asking questions is another great way to stay engaged in the meeting and keep you focused.

The Thought Catalog

I have spent a lot of time over the past couple of weeks discussing the ins and outs of being the perfect intern.  I have provided you with advice based on my personal internship experiences, outlined tips and tricks from interviews with current and former interns, and discussed some of the hot topics of internships in the media.  The reality is, no one is perfect--especially as an intern.  You are bound to make mistakes, but with a positive attitude and the right frame of mind, you can be pretty close.

Many of my media-related posts have touched upon the subject of unpaid interns in some way, shape or form.  While doing some research, I came across a post on thoughtcatalog.com entitled "6 Reasons Why Your Unpaid Internship Is Very Much Worth It."  For those of you unfamiliar with thoughtcatalog.com, the website is a digital magazine that allows people the opportunity to have their inner-most thoughts and feelings published on an online forum.  The media group that operates the website, The Thought & Expression LLC, believes "all thinking is relevant," that today's thoughts should be cataloged for tomorrow, and that our culture can be shaped by empowering individuals to share their ideas with the world.  I highly recommend you check the website out.  It is definitely a great place to read some motivational and inspirational pieces!  Each post makes really makes you "think" outside of the box--pun intended.

The author of the aforementioned post does a great job of outlining why internships shouldn't be all about making money.  While monetary compensation is an undeniably sweet perk to an internship gig, do not let it make or break your decision to accept the job.  While I won't spoil the entire article, I thought I would share one great reason (in my opinion AND the author's) why an unpaid internship is worth it: