Lauren Berger knows a lot about internships. Not only does her company focus on helping students get the internships of their dreams, but during her college years, Berger herself held 15 different internships. I spoke with Berger over the phone to get the scoop on the why internships are beneficial and how you can get one.
We began our conversation with a chat about what has lately been on the minds of many aspiring writers and editors: the end of Condé Nast’s infamous internship program. The publishing giant – which owns magazines including Vogue, The New Yorker and Architectural Digest (to name a few) – recently closed down their internship program after former interns complained about the paltry compensation. Despite this, the internship program has long been a draw to aspiring editorial staff. When asked how she thinks this shutdown will affect young women searching for jobs in the publishing world, Berger expressed that this may not be a permanent predicament. She hopes that Condé Nast will be able to “regroup, restructure and reinvent the wheel to come up with a safe… and legal program.” After all, she informs me: “internships are the way to land jobs after college.” Her own experience interning is an example of this, and presented the “most pivotal learning experiences [she] ever encountered.”
Sounds great, but where are the most desirable internships for us young women? Berger explains this depends on where you are and where you interests lie. In her position as Intern Queen, she has many women ask about PR or advertising positions in particular, though nursing and engineering internships are also in demand. As far as the most popular internship, Berger is most often asked about Seventeen Magazine, a Hearst publication.
But what about those of us who cannot manage to set up camp in New York City to assume an internship position? Not a problem, according to Berger. She suggests you start small. For instance, if you are interested in PR or publishing, intern with a local firm, publisher or magazine. Berger traveled this road herself, interning with Moore Communications in Tallahassee, Florida before she was able to land a position with BWR Public Relations in Beverly Hills, California. For those would-be interns who have Canadian citizenship but would like to intern in New York or Los Angeles (or any other American city), she advises you “think big” and “don’t have any limits.” This means figuring out the government protocol well in advance, instead of letting your citizenship limit your dreams.
Berger’s personal resume includes a plethora of internships – including ones with MTV, Fox and NBC. She says these experiences taught her a lot about the business she wanted to be in and left her more confident about who she is. When she first began to intern, Berger didn’t know what she wanted to do – vacillating between working in the entertainment, PR or advertising industries, or writing. Most of her earlier internships involved a combination of writing and PR and only later did she undertake entertainment internships. These days, her position with InternQueen.com means she uses a blend of these skills as well as the lessons she learned interning. The most valuable of these is how to “think, act and execute like a professional.” Despite this, she admits, there were times when she wondered why on earth she was doing certain tasks. Among these, she counts filing at NBC. She is quick to explain, however, that that sort of work is integral in making you realize that “every glamorous position [has] a not-so-glamorous part to it.” And tasks like this are still important when it comes to “organizing and structuring a large business.”
Fortunately for us Canadians, Berger has some idea of expanding the Intern Queen network beyond the U.S. to Canada. And in the meantime, you can read her book: All Work, No Pay: Finding an Internship, Building Your Resume, Making Connections, and Gaining Job Experience (available here).