If you think Intern Queen is just a cutesy name for a website, think again. Lauren Berger is, literally, the Intern Queen. During her four years in college, Lauren had a staggering 15 (yes, 1-5!) internships, at employers such as MTV, NBC, and Us Weekly. Can you collegiettes™ even imagine doing 15 internships along with school? I know I can’t.
Lauren visited MU on March 8 to talk about her internship experiences and expertise. First, she made it clear that 15 internships is not a number that you need to shoot for. The average number of internships during college is two to three, but internships are growing in importance more than ever. As Lauren says, the first question that employers ask in interviews now is, “Where did you intern?”
There are many things you need to do that will make your chances of landing your dream internship a lot higher.
First: a cover letter. “A cover letter connects the dots for your resume,” Lauren says. But something simple that many people don’t do is spell check their résumé. A generic cover letter that you copy and paste to every potential employer is also a mistake. This can lead to you accidentally sending a cover letter that says, “I’d love a position at Cosmopolitan” when you’re actually applying to Teen Vogue. These two faux pas will make an employer throw out your cover letter and résumé without hesitation. Also, your résumé should only be one page. Include experience or things that are relevant to the position you’re applying for.
Second: Get a chic business suit, and wear it to all of your interviews. You need to look professional and not distracting.
Third: After your interviews, send handwritten thank you notes. No thank you e-mails. Taking the time to sit down and write a note shows that you care.
Fourth and last: Take risks, and network with your peers. On a trip to Barbados (which she was sent on with only a day’s notice) for Us Weekly, Lauren had to get the scoop on an argument that Charlie Sheen and Denise Richards had there. When she got picked up at the airport in a Bentley, she started talking to the driver to find out anything that she could. Turns out, Charlie and Denise had their big fight exactly where Lauren was sitting, in the back of that Bentley. By talking to everyone and anyone she could, Lauren got the scoop she needed before she even reached her $2,500 a night room where Charlie and Denise stayed. When she told her boss, she was praised and told to enjoy her time at the resort – not to mention she got a paycheck worth hundreds of dollars.
By taking risks, Lauren was able to launch her site in 2009 with a mission to help college students through the internship process. Her main message for us is simply to make things happen. She was told her freshman year that she couldn’t get an internship, but by talking to the employer and showing her excitement and charisma, she got it. If you want something enough, you have the tools to make it happen.