The Ability Project » Barb

Don’t Listen To Us #3: Lauren Berger

Barb — Sun, 04 Apr 2010 23:01:20 +0000

We’ve taken a bit of a hiatus with our blog, but we’re back now with the latest in our “Don’t Listen To Us” series. This week, we’re featuring the well-known Lauren Berger, otherwise known as The Intern Queen. Completing fifteen internships throughout her college career, Lauren surely knows the ins and outs of the internship world and makes it her goal to educate college students in hopes of aiding them in landing “that dream internship.” So in 2006, Lauren had the aspiration of providing a website aiding college students since she had noticed that few of her peers had even one internship under their belt and that she was sought after by friends for her advice. With support and funding, Lauren launched The Intern Queen, which lists fabulous internships across the US, in June 2008.

Last Monday, I caught up with Lauren and had a quick chat with her about her thoughts on her past experiences and internships in general. What was incredibly surprising was that of the fifteen internships that she had pursued, many were not gained through networking, but rather, purely through applications. And while networking is highly advocated, there is still much to be learned through such a road. Such path teaches you lessons and necessary skills about tailoring your résumé and cover letter, finding out what you truly enjoy, and self-motivation.

While some may wonder why Lauren chose to undertake fifteen internships in her four years of college, as opposed to settling into a internship for a longer period of time, her response is one that resonates clearly. She had moved around a lot with her internships, living in New York, Los Angeles, and Orlando, which didn’t leave her with the options to think about staying. And more importantly, having so many internships allowed for greater exposure to potential careers and more varied experiences in terms of work and life. And of course, Lauren still places an emphasis on school, as it is the place to prepare and refine your soft skills (i.e. working under pressure, teamwork, punctuality) for the real world.

One of the many tips that Lauren offers to students looking for an internship is to look for structure in the program, which can easily be done by asking the interviewer to describe a day of his life at work.

Currently, Lauren is available for speaking engagements at schools, organizations, events, or conferences, and is continuing to assist students in landing the internship of their dreams. For more information and internship listings, visit Lauren’s website http://internqueen.com/ and follow her on her twitter account InternQueen for daily tips.

Ping Me.

Barb — Fri, 05 Feb 2010 17:00:12 +0000

When you go to a school that is in the city, most of the students that you come across are either carrying a BlackBerry or iPhone on them. I also happen to be one of them. Let’s get this straight, though, I am not a big fan of either – I think they’re overhyped and that there are other phones that are equally as good but are just not given the North American attention (head on over to Europe and Asia to see some real phones in action). But hey, that’s not the discussion on hand; what is, though, is the wonderment of why more and more undergraduates are possessing one or the other and for what possible advantage points are there?

It’s quite simple: email and constant contact. We’re often told that in the working world, the right opportunity is everything, as is timing. And such could explain why many business persons have a BlackBerry as an appendage – it’s great at its email function (heck, it’s what put RIM in the game) and the BlackBerry messenger is a huge selling point when traveling between continents. Well, when you’re taught to seize opportunities and to live for them, there’s no time to be texting your roommate to check if you ever got that offer for an interview or if they could doublecheck where your meeting was. It helps us prepare and serves as a back-up when “we forget” things. And hey, when you are usually a user of either the BlackBerry or the iPhone, you’re usually pretty apt to the other social media tools that are ready for download to the phone, such as Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.

The downside to this tool, though, is its possibility as a distraction. Walk by the cubicle of many young adults at work or at their internships, and you often find them twittering about their job, browsing Facebook because they can’t on their work computer, or simply chatting away on instant messaging programs. Or worse, the one that constantly checks and replies to other emails. As much as a BlackBerry can enhance your job search, it can just as easily cost you a job.

Don’t Listen To Us #2: Grace Boyle

Barb — Mon, 25 Jan 2010 17:00:09 +0000

Last time we brought to you our first “listen to them instead,” which was Rebecca Thorman of Modite.com. This week we are showcasing another person: Grace Boyle of Lijit.

Named by numerous websites as one of the top Gen-Y reads, Grace Boyle’s down-to-earth “Small Hands, Big Ideas” uncovers everything from social media to worklife to the need of finding balance in her busy life. With topics that everyone can find himself relating to and understanding, there is something for each person that comes across Small Hands, Big Ideas. And to add spice to this tasty find, guest bloggers (including her dad!) offer their own insight from time to time, as well as the Friday linky love, which shows off the week’s great finds. And with such an earnest and lovely personality, Grace is a must-follow.

Look to Grace for:

Anecdotal advice from this Gen-Y’er
Thoughts on work and social media
Musings on interesting workplace articles
Advice on balancing that new career and personal life
Opinions from those that she respects and admires
Ways to convince you that Colorado isn’t such a boring place to live

On Resolutions and Goals…

Barb — Tue, 19 Jan 2010 02:05:13 +0000

I was never one for making resolutions; in fact, when we asked one another what resolutions we had set for the new year, I often found myself staring blankly or making up something unrealistic on the spot. And to this day, I find resolutions to be a complete waste of time.

What I find to be productive, though, is goal setting. While you may be thinking that I have lost my mind and that they are so similar, goals and resolutions are actually quite different. Most of the time, we can associate resolutions with them being extremely long term goals that are usually made at the advent of a new year. Goals, though, are a much more broad term – they not only encompass the concept that resolutions embody, but also are far more realistic and attainable. But that’s only if you set them right.

Set a time line for your goals; divide them into what you will achieve within certain time frames (such as one month, six months, and one year). By doing so, you are motivating yourself and setting deadlines for when you will complete a task or achieve something. In addition to setting time frames, be sure to divide your goals and strive for balance. Far too often may you find yourself concentrating your goals all in one particular aspect of your life (e.g. in my case, I focus a lot on my career) and neglect the others (i.e. personal and health goals). Be sure to spread out your goals. And lastly, write down the goals you have set yourself. You’ve heard it so many times: those that write down their goals are far more likely to succeed in achieving them. Think about it: if you write them down, there’s visible documentation of your thoughts, which will make you more inclined to want to do them, especially if you can see them on a frequent basis (e.g. I keep mine on a bulletin board by my computer).

So Mom Did Have Some Good Advice…

Barb — Thu, 19 Nov 2009 17:25:02 +0000

Remember staring at the vegetable plate when you were a kid with your mother’s voice echoing “just try it?” Well, you might want to entertain the idea that there was some sound advice in that plea for you to eat your broccoli.

A lot of us go through school either knowing exactly what we want to do or not having the slightest clue what to do when we get handed our diploma. And while it may seem grand that some people have their lives planned, do they really know what a good fit is for them? I’ve heard students tell me how they’re going to go to law school and become a lawyer, or go to medical school and become a surgeon. But seriously, for those of you have who consider such roads, have you even stepped foot into a law firm and sat down to get a feel for cases, or volunteered in a hospital ER? Probably not.

In order to get a feel of what you want to do and to be sure of what you like and dislike, try things out. Whether it is through volunteering or through internships, experiencing the environment is the way to know for sure. If it turns out that you don’t like a certain path after all, then that’s also great. You won’t have to spend the rest of your college years working toward a field that you weren’t interested in at all. And when opportunities present themselves, always try to take them. Even if you might not have an interest in that particular opportunity, you are bound to learn something from that experience so just give things a try.

School’s Out! But You’re Not Done Learning

Barb — Fri, 13 Nov 2009 18:29:41 +0000

Last week, I sat down with Ellen East, EVP of Time Warner Cable, to gain perspective on a couple of things. And while I could easily type up the gist of our conversation and title this entry as “Interview with Time Warner Cable’s Ellen East,” I think there’s more to be had than just a Q&A session. In fact, there’s a whole lesson to be learned: one which not only humbles but also spotlights experience.

While discussing her work in journalism, Ellen made an interesting statement: she would make a much better journalist now if she returned to the field in spite of not having being in the industry for two decades. When she made that remark, though, I didn’t follow her. So Ellen explained to me that “as a reporter, you only see a slice.” And with that, she gave me a great example.

In the 90s, broadband was considered to be a great development for the telecommunications industry with it being conceptualized and launched in a matter of two years, which was viewed to be incredibly fast by those in the business. The first question, however, that a reporter asked when seeking a quote from Ellen was “what took so long?” Obviously, the reporter could only see from the everyday person’s lens and not place the news in context.

So what was Ellen’s point? Quite simply put: you need to be dynamic. Fresh out of college, you may think that you know the industry just because you’ve had several great internships under your belt. And hey, you’re not to blame. After all, you’re exposed to a lot of new things and information when you’re working, so you may get the impression that you’ve already learned all that is available. Sorry to break it to you, though, there are always more lessons to be learned. So while your view on things may be skewed as you emerge into your career (that’s normal!), keep in mind that all experience and knowledge will greatly assist you in understanding your work on hand and your environment.

What (not) to do when someone asks you “what do you do?”

Barb — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 14:27:06 +0000

You’re at a cocktail party and are socializing with group of unfamiliar faces. The conversation starts with the exchange of names and some interests. And then the dread question arrives, “so, what is it that you do exactly?” While you make think that referring to what your business card says is a safe bet, it can be quite the conversation killer.

If you waste this opportunity to impress by just reciting your business card, you will either wind up leaving your contact associating you with the stereotype of your profession (which can be quite negative), or speechless because of your completely obscure title. Remember to keep in mind that some titles only have significance to those that work in the industry, company, or department.

Instead, aim to deliver a description that packs a punch. Think of it this way: when you are writing a résumé, you try to highlight your experiences and performances. In this case, you are selling yourself verbally and need to make a good first impression. When mixing and mingling, a bad impression can result in you losing your possible contact and them moving onto the next person in the crowd.

So try introducing yourself by throwing a quick who, what, when, why, where, and how into the mix. There’s no need to answer everything, but by answering even a few of these questions, you can provide a wealth of information for your contact to pick at in a short amount of time. For instance, give this one a go (instead of just saying “I’m a writer”):

I attend and write coverage for fashion events in New York City for an online magazine called ZXY publications.

On a related note, the concept of jazzing up a bland description also extends to introducing friends to contacts. Simply saying “this is XYZ” doesn’t give the other person a lot to work with. Next time, try adding an interesting fact about them; for example, “meet XYZ, she recently spent a lot of time in Europe recently.” By doing so, you are helping out by building a bridge for your two contacts on which to tread.

Drop the Books and Pick-Up Some Experience

Barb — Fri, 09 Oct 2009 21:19:00 +0000

Remember when your teachers and parents would always say that as long as you worked hard in school, you would have amazing opportunities after? Well, that is probably the biggest misconception you could ever have. Let’s get it straight: snagging fantastic grades and being captain of the math league at school aren’t qualities that will land you a job with the Big4. What will better aid you, though, in landing employment after graduation is actual work experience during your undergrad years.

Gaining hands-on experience in the industry of your choice is essential. You make yourself that much more marketable with honed-in skills and a real perspective of the business world. Listing only a fabulous GPA on your resume does not, by any means, communicate technical and soft skills; however, work experience does. With a couple internships under your belt, you can easily demonstrate several soft skills that are essential for success: communication skills, perseverance, and an eagerness to learn.

In addition to demonstrating that you have a working knowledge of the field, you also to yourself that this industry is where you belong. Let’s use an unrelated example: when you go to a restaurant and you look at the menu, you find your mouth salivating just reading the names and descriptions of some dishes. But when the plates arrive, you find that some of these dishes are not to your liking just but that’s only out of preference. So you see, there’s a fine line between theory and practice, and this idea also applies to professions. You might enjoy the idea of a career up until the point where you find out that the people and environment aren’t for you. Why would you want to wait four years to find out that you wasted your bachelor’s degree on a career you end up waiting when you could’ve spent a summer interning to find out?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that school grades are completely useless. Doing well and having the grades to prove it does give you an edge, but only so much of one. The market is saturated with many excellent graduates, so you have to make yourself stand out by showing your interest and bypassing the need for basic training.

And so what if you went to a prestigious university? Well, if all you ever did was study then the money spent was a waste. That lump sum of a tuition you paid bought you a wedge to stick in the door of the working world. The name of the school awarded you more credibility than what you had when looking for your first job (which is equivalent to zero), as well as a chance to open your mind and to make fabulous connections. After all, not every school can have the EVP of Time Warner Cable come to speak to a small class or have the editor-in-chief of Bon Appétit do a speaking engagement while on vacation in Paris. If you have the opportunity to go to a school with great connections, take advantage of it and get ready to jot down your own experiences, instead of reading about others’.

Pitching a Curveball: Directing Your Pitches

Barb — Fri, 02 Oct 2009 18:42:51 +0000

When you’re making yourself into a personal brand, the worst thing you can do is to shoot yourself in the foot with a horrible PR pitch. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not saying that pitching your start-up business, blog, or press releases are horrible things to do. What I am going to say, though, is that if you are going to pitch something, at least do it well.

Like a lot of things in the writing department, there is no “absolute” way to write a pitch. There are, of course, tactics to employ and things to avoid; so in some way, you could say that there is a loose structure that you can follow to incur more eager replies.

First of all, know to whom you are pitching your idea! No one wants to be receiving an email in their inbox that is impersonalized and pitching a product or service. Think about it: you never liked that cheerleader in high school that only talked about herself and never once asked about you (did she even know your name?). It’s the same idea.

Instead, what you need to do is to learn a little bit about the person you are telling your idea to, and find out if it really is of interest to them. If it isn’t, forget about sending the pitch – don’t waste your time. If it is, read about what they’ve done and offer your appreciation of their work an icebreaker.

Do you have to personalize each and every email? No. Save it for your ‘tier one’ list of people to contact. For everyone else, just get straight to the point. Keep it simple and just push the pitch, but do so with care. Make sure to hit BCC; do not make a complete blunder by hitting CC or To:, which reveals your media list to everyone and ignores privacy regulations.

Along the lines of keeping things simple; just paste the release into the body of the email. Don’t bother with PDF/word doc attachments; no one wants to take the extra step of opening a file when they could have easily just scrolled down had you just pasted it.

Knowing how to send a pitch comes in really handy. Not only are you presenting yourself as more approachable, but you will also make better use of your time in concentrating your efforts well.

So We Know the Cool Kids are Blogging, Now What?

Barb — Fri, 25 Sep 2009 15:48:32 +0000

This past summer, intern Jillian talked about how blogging was advantageous. The benefits do sound fantastic, but with such easy access to a publishing platform, anyone can be a writer these days. So how do you hook your audience? Easy: be contagious and sticky.

Before we hit the ground running, let’s define these two terms. As described in Malcolm Gladwell’s The Tipping Point, which shows the relationship between the spreading of marketing messages and viruses, the two terms refer to the ability to spread and be memorable. Such concepts are essential for you to not only wind up on everyone’s computer screen, but to also stay on everyone’s Google reader.

When penning down your article, only write as much as you need in order to express your point. Writing too much dilutes what you’re trying to say and dissuades the reader from visiting again. When blogs were not that common, it was easy to get away with ramblings, since there were not a lot of everyday Joe’s voicing their opinions. But since blogging has become so popular as of late, readers can freely pick and choose what they want to read.

Having great content isn’t enough, you need to build relationships! Engage yourself in the online community by reading and commenting on other blogs, as well as meeting up with the bloggers. Consider this: you network with others at work and at social events, right? So why not for the online community too! By networking with other bloggers, you stand to gain more exposure and more connections, which can help you reach your blog’s full potential.

And finally, get some back-end work done. You’re competing against a lot of other blogs, so you want to make sure that yours is search-engine optimized and populating as many corners of the web as possible. What I mean by populating corners is that you want to make sure that you’re part of blog directories and listings, and search engines. There are many online articles that can help you to search-engine optimize your webpage; many of which are catered to those who are not in the field of web design.