How To Succeed At Your Summer Internship

...advice from a girl who's had many.

Internships are great.  I've interned for two summers at a State Senator's office, a summer at CBS Radio, a summer with my county's Executive, and in a marketing department for a international company.  So saying I have internship experience is an understatement. 

Many internships are either offered for college credit, or just simply the experience.  Let me tell you, never turn down a great opportunity just because it's unpaid.  I graduated from college in 2010, worked for my sorority for 9 months, then became unemployed.  I interviewed for an unpaid internship with a County Executive, got the position, worked for almost 2 months without pay, and just this week they offered me a job!  See, hard work does pay off!

Here are some great tips I've picked up along the way:

1.  Make connections with everyone you meet, not just the people in your office.  A huge part of interning is the networking! 

2.  Dress to impress, it makes you look like you know what you're doing!

3.  Ask for work, a lot of offices don't have interns all year round, so come summer time they might forget you're there to help out!  Plus it shows that your extremely dedicated.

4.  Triple check your work, there's nothing worse that rushing on an assignment and turning it in with mistakes, especially if you're not overloaded with work.  If you have access to a printer, print a copy for your own file.  That way if your supervisor makes changes you can review and learn tips for next time!

5.  Make them aware that you would love to work for the company, let me repeat "make them aware that you would LOVE to work for the company."  If you don't speak up, how are they supposed to know you're even interested in furthering your career within the organization?  Trust me, employeers would rather hire people they already have a feel for.

6.  Don't complain, to anyone!  Even if you think you've made a friend within your officer, never complain to them, whether it's about work, personal life, etc.  Word can spread quick and you don't want to be known as a complainer.

7.  Speak up!  Don't be afraid to let people know you're thinking.  Any bit of creativity helps... even from the intern.

8.  Volunteer, whether it's for an assignment, event, to tag along to a meeting, or errands.  If you do it enough you will get noticed, in a good way.

9.  Facebook and Twitter is a no-no, unless you're doing social media for the company.  If that's the case, make sure you're logged in with their name and password.

10.  SMILE, it does you wonders.

Remember to start researching early for that dream internship--a lot of companies try to interview by March or April.  Research the company, prepare and practice.  Anything you put your mind to you can acheive! 

Want other tips and advice?  Let me know, I'd be happy to help!

Music Monday

Can't get this song out of my head.

"Young Blood," by The Naked and Famous, enjoy!

100th Post

So I've been so busy with getting adjusted to real life after the wild & crazy wedding, that I didn't even realize I just had my 100th post!  Yes, if I would have been the good blogger I aspired to be, I would have had my 100th post long ago. 

But, that is unfortunately not the case.  So here I am, 1 year, 1 month, and 9 days after my first post, celebrating my blogging birthday (sort of).

I've come to the conclusion that blogging makes me happy.  So even though I might not blog every day, I'm not giving it up anytime soon!

Thank you to all of you who are a regular reader, to those who stop by every once in a while, and to those who make fun of my blog (DD & Cass), I love you all!

Tune Tuesday

This isn't going to be a weekly thing... as of yet, but since I missed Music Monday I figured I'd make up for it today.  Tune Tuesday might be a little cooler than Monday anyway... hm, we'll see.

So here it is, this week's music selection is:

Jackson Browne's "Somebody's Baby"

The song is from the early 80's and one of Browne's most popular.  

You might recognize it from Fast Times at Ridgemont High.

Enjoy!

Pomp & Circumstance, Part II

So the actual graduation is over, now I'm off to the beach, and when I get back there is major focus on the graduation party!  The graduation ceremony was HOT and kinda long, but also very special.  

With my sissy after the ceremony!

I got a little nostalgic and decided to try on the cap and gown.

Next up, party time!

A Royal Wedding... well, sort of.

Okay, so I'm not going to an actual royal wedding, but I haven't been a part of a wedding in a long time, so to me this wedding is a pretty big deal.  My bestest friend of over 11 years is getting married to her fabulous finance.  The wedding is in Atlantic Beach, North Carolina so that means lots of fun, friends, and sun (which I'm pretty sure I'm in need most of).  

I've never been to a beach wedding before, nor have I been in a wedding for anyone other than a family member.  So I'm super excited to stand on the sand as Maid of Honor.  I leave next week so I'll be taking some time off in the blogging world, but never fear I will return with lots of pictures! 

Until then, think cornflower blue, a candy bar, balcony reception, white lights, centerpieces with fish...

T-Shirt Quilt

Throughout my year of travel, I received TONS of t-shirts. 

Basically every chapter I visited gave me at least one shirt.

While I do love t-shirts, I just know that I'll rarely rare them now that I'm off the road.

So, instead of letting them sit in my drawer I've decided to make a t-shirt quilt!

Well, I won't actually be making the quilt, but I plan to find someone who will do it at a reasonable price.

I laid them all out on my floor today just to get some sort of idea... check it out:

An actual quilt looks like this:

I'll probably save some of my favorites to wear or pass down, and they won't all be arranged this way, but you get the idea.

Have any of you or someone you know made a t-shirt quilt before??  

I'd love some suggestions!

Pomp & Circumstance, Part I

My baby sissy is graduating on Wednesday!

My mom decided to put me in charge of the graduation party plans, 

so much of my days have been devoted to just that.

I thought I was having a hard time trying to get her present together, 

and now I have to worry about the party!

I've been creating some ideas in my head that I think are gonna be pretty cute.

We invited almost 200 people, so we're already spending tons of money on food & drinks, 

so I want to go crafty here and spend as little as possible.

Here's some ideas:

I'll put pictures of her throughout the years in the mason jars.

Bright flowers with some twine or ribbon on the jar.

Votive candles.

I bought some different colored felt and and ribbon and I'm in the process of making a triangle banner with "Class of 2011," "Congrats Sissy," and "Clarion."  I used to make these a lot for recruitment parties, they're super easy to make and cost very little.

Stay tuned for pictures and updates! 

Music Monday

Quite possibly my favorite Joni Mitchell song. 

Off her 1971 album, Blue, enjoy "Little Green."

The Lost Story.

I have been long awaiting a new book about the 60s & 70s to come out and this one seems to be it.  "Fire and Rain:  The Beatles, Simon and Garfunkel, James Taylor, CSNY and the Lost Story of 1970" by David Browne just hit the stores. 

As many of you know, I have a somewhat unhealthy obsession with these decades, and all things rock and roll related, so if you are anything like me you too will love this book.

Rolling Stone is currently featuring an exerpt from the book on their website here if you want to get a little taste before you buy the real thing.  Browne is a pretty credible author, most known for his book on Sonic Youth "Goodbye 20th Century." 

If you get to read this before I do (I have about 4 books in line that still need to be read), I'm anxious to hear what you think!

Happy Reading!