Internship Coordinator Interview: Angela Navarro, Gen Art !!!

INTERVIEW: INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR – ANGELA NAVARRO,GEN ART

ALUMNI: UCLA

INTERNSHIP COORDINATOR INTERVIEW !!

 

What is your job ? Regional Event Coordinator for Gen Art

What college did you go to ? UCLA

Where are you from ? San Francisco

Tell me about your intern experience: I’ve had about 3 internships during college. One being a fashion intern for IMG in Los Angeles. From there I got another marketing/fashion internship for a consulting company, which eventually led me to a full-time position.

Do you have any internship horror stories ? On the second day of my internship, I was sending around a mass email to some undisclosed recipients and I totally forgot to BCC! The list had some really important people on there, and now everyone had each other’s email address. I was sure I was going to get fired. Luckily I wasn’t.

What was the most valuable lesson you learned while interning ? It’s best to try out different internships in order to get the most experience, especially so that you can find out what area/field you are really passionate about. But above all, network , network , network!

What do you look for when hiring interns ? As an event production intern, you have to be prepared to work in a fast pace environment.

*We (GEN ART) are looking for candidates who have great leadership and communication skills, someone who is a problem solver, motivated, and over all else, professional.

Has an intern ever done something to really knock your socks off ? I think if an intern is assertive, they are sure to make a great impression. Interns who go beyond their regular day to day job duties show that they are really committed.  

 

What can a student do to better prepare for an internship with your company ? As with any company you interview with, do your homework and know information about the company beforehand. Be a great sales person and know how to sell yourself.

More Internship Q & A for you !

Q: Hi There!

I have a question for you. I graduated from Brown University last spring and now I am having trouble getting an internship. I have been offered two amazing internships but have been unable to take them because they are only offered for academic credit! Do you have any advice or know of any schools that give academic credit for internships?

Thanks!
T

A: Hello T ! This is where one of my Intern Queen tips comes in handy. Even after you graduate, it is still sometimes possible to get an internship “recognized” on your college transcripts. Call your guidance counselor from college and ask if this can be done. If you can get “internship recognition” on your transcript that should be sufficient for the company you are trying to intern with. Remember, in most cases the issue of college credit is something the student handles – not the companies. Companies just want to know that you are getting something “school-related” out of the internship because inmost cases they are not paying interns. Try this and see what luck you have. That being said, the more “corporate” internships do usually only offer internships to candidates currently enrolled in school. As a PLAN B, apply to smaller companies that will provide a hands-on experience and won’t mind if you aren’t still enrolled. Check out my site, www.quarterlife.com/intern for some company ideas.

Best of luck,

The Intern Queen

Do you send the Intern Queen a Cover Letter ?

Q: Hey Lauren Berger,

I just have a question for you! I’m new to the site and am interested 
in applying to some internships that are listed.

Do I need to provide cover letters as well? Also, do you just push our 
resumes along to the proper parties and that’s how it gets to them?

Thanks for your help!
T

A: Thanks for joining the site ! I’m so glad you are thinking – INTERNSHIPS ! Please copy/paste all resumes into the emails you send me. I go through these resumes and then forward them to my contacts at each company you are interested in. If the company wants a cover letter as well, I will inform you via email.

 

Best,

Lauren Berger

“The Intern Queen” 

Where do you live during an internship out-of-state ?

Q: Hey Intern Queen,

I found out about you through my school newspaper which happens to be your alum, GO KNIGHTS! I wanted to know with all your experience with finding internships where did you stay? Because I have been really interested in interns in LA or NY such as BET or NBC but most of the big time internships don’t offer pay or a place to stay and I would like to know how did you do it? It’s the only thing holding me back. I don’t know anyone that lives in these places such as family, friends.

Thanks,
E

A: This seems to be a very common question lately If you want to intern in New York City check out the NYU Summer program which can include a meal plan. You can also look into summer housing opportunities with some of the other colleges in the NYC area like THE NEW SCHOOL, COLUMBIA, LOYOLA. When I went to Los Angeles for the summer I subleased a room in an apartment off of Craigslist.com which worked out very well. Another summer I stayed at Oakwoods Corporate Housing which can is expensive but provides an “internship discount” and an experience of a lifetime.

All the best,

Lauren Berger “The Intern Queen”

www.quarterlife.com/intern

Intern Queen on a Friday

 

Hey everyone  ! Check out the great clip from the University of Central Florida’s Newspaper !!

http://media.www.centralfloridafuture.com/media/storage/paper174/news/2008/11/19/News/intern.Queen.Dishes.Her.Secret-3550779.shtml

Q: Hi there, I would like to apply for an internship but I have no experience on my resume relevant to the internships…What are the chances that I could still get hired?

 

thanks!

- E

A:  Hello Hello ! When I got my first internship in college at the Zimmerman Agency in Tallahassee, Florida the only experience on my resume was working at Red Lobster (as a hostess) and working at Limited Too (as one of the salesgirls). I had no relevant experience for an advertising and public relations firm. Put whatever experience you do have on your resume. You should also put volunteer experience, information about your education, list any relevant coursework, and any computer skills. If you are familiar with social networking sites like Myspace or facebook – you should put that you have social networking skills – these are important to companies. Good luck and email me with any questions you might have.

Best,

Lauren

Questions from THE UNIVERSITY OF CENTRAL FLORIDA !!

Q: Hi Intern Queen,

 I’m a junior at UCF (Go Knights!), and I got so excited when I saw all the great internship opportunities listed on your website.  The only problem is, I live in Orlando, and while there are some great things available here, I find myself most interested in internships available in NY and LA.  How does an unpaid intern afford housing and the cost of living in the big cities?  I’d be willing to chalk it up to a great experience and new connections, but I’m not so sure my parents would be willing to pay for it.  What did you do?

 

Thanks!

C

A: Hello Fellow Golden Knight ! Good to hear from you ! Yes, currently we only have a few internship listings in Orlando. First, we need to figure out which field you are interested in. If the magazine listings in New York interest you then lets think on a smaller scaler for the spring semester. There are a few great publications in Orlando (Sentinel, Orlando Style, Orlando Mag, etc). Try calling these places and asking what you need to do to intern there. And them let me know so I can convince them to post with me ! For spring and fall semesters I always did local internships. I suggest putting together a specific budget of how much money you would need to go to NYC for the summer. NYC tends to be a bit easier because you don’t need to worry about transportation and NYU has a summer program where students from around the country can stay at their dorms. Check it out online, it’s called NYU SUMMER – That’s what I did and it worked out great. Also, you can definitly get a summer job and have an internship. When I interned in NYC, I only interned 3 days per week so I could have easily worked 5 days per week. When I interned in Los Angeles for one summer I was working at Islands (Burger Restaurant) on the weekends and in the evenings and interning during the day. Another good thing about the NYU Summer program is that you can do a meal plan so that most of your food will be pre-paid as well. Get it all planned out and then go to your parents with it. If you have to stay in Orlando, that is fine too. Just look into companies that interest you there. Many times it’s the smaller companies that give you more hands on opportunities.

Hope this helps.

Best,

Lauren

More Q & A with the Intern Queen

Q: Hello! I believe I emailed you before with my resume attached, i 
am a singer/writer/musician and entrepreneur. I am 
really passionate about my music and i really want to get wherever to 
be seen. I have been writing since i was 11 and singing since I was 4, I love singing. I recently moved to NY, because it seemed like the place for people with passion like myself, now that i am here, i am recording and writing constantly, but i want more.  So I am asking to work to get where i want to be, as an intern, because i have been informed of the access to the industry it provides. Thank you.

- C

A: C, Don’t feel bad about your situation at all. In fact, I’m so proud of you for moving to NYC to really follow and pursue your passion in the first place. Many people don’t have the courage to do something like that. I think that understanding all aspects of the industry that you desire to work in is extremely important. An internship can definitly help you get a foot in the door and help you get a feel for how the “business” side of music is run. That might in turn help you with your music and find your niche. Also, you might find that working on the business side of music will satisfy you until your personal music career takes off. I’ll take another look at your resume and send it to whichever music postings I have in the New York City area. Please follow up with me in two weeks and let me know if you’ve heard anything.

Best,

Lauren Berger

“The Intern Queen”

www.quarterlife.com/intern

Whats up with the Intern Queen in November ?

Hey everyone !  I’ve been getting tons and tons of resumes in – which is wonderful – so I’ve neglected to blog lately. Not an excuse ! I’ll be back in action over the next few weeks. I wanted to share with you all that one of the lovely interns that I placed at MTV/VH1, Stephanie, invited me to speak at CAPP last night at the University of California – Irvine. It was a great experience and I chatted with about 30 students about the importance of Internships and Networking. I had so many students tell me that they were juniors and seniors and they still hadn’t jumped on board the Internship Train! I’m so glad that I got to be there to encourage them and let them know that it’s not too late and that it’s actually easier than one might think to land a great internship for the Spring or Summer of 2009.

I’m officially changing our listings from Fall to Spring and Summer today and tomorrow – so it’s alright to assume that any Fall listing will be on there for Spring/Summer as well. Make sure that you are all indicating which semester you’d like to intern in the subject line of your emails. Also, I’m doing something new with all of your resumes. I’m sending your resumes to multiple companies now instead of just one. I keep telling all of you to apply for at least 10 internships per semester. The goal here is to intern in your field – I’m not as concerned with you interning with a certain company – as long as you are interning somewhere. It’s soooo important! An example is, if you send me a resume for SEVENTEEN MAGAZINE, I’ll probably send your resume to SEVENTEEN and then to 10 other magazine companies in New York. Again, this is so you all have great back-up plans. I want to make sure you are all landing Spring/Summer internships for 2009.

I know you all have holiday breaks coming up so use that time to surf around my site and read up on advice and apply for some internships – as we know, there are TONS available.

Take care and keep applying !

Lauren (the Intern Queen)

www.quarterlife.com/intern

Intern Queen is using Twitter ! Get Excited !

Hey interns, internship coordinators, and friends ! I’m not going to attempt to use TWITTER as often as possible. If you have any special requests or suggestions on apps I should be using for it – please let me know ! I’ll be updating my status frequently and giving daily internship advice during the week ! Thanks ! My name on Twitter is INTERNQUEEN if you want to follow my updates !

Lauren Berger – The Intern Queen