Starting An Internship? Offer Some Advice To Your Fellow Gen-Y’ers

Many Generation Y folks are starting internships on June 1. Conduct a search on Twitter for the keyword “internship”, and you will see just how many people are stating just that. Have any advice for what to do on the first day? Please leave a comment below.

Today is the first day of the rest of your life

My advice:
1. Arrive at least 10 minutes early. Arriving on time means you are late.
2. Eat breakfast…seriously. You don’t know when you’re going to get your first break (if at all). You don’t want to end up like Stephanie Pratt from The Hills.
3. Be humble. If you offer help or ideas to someone more established in the company, do so with humility.
4. **MOST IMPORTANT** Do not…I repeat…Do not invite everyone from your internship to follow you on Twitter/Friend you on Facebook and then say any of the following: “My internship is sooooo boring”; “I’m sooo ready to leave my internship”; or, “I need (some form of alcohol, drug, illegal susbstance) right now.” Also, don’t assume they won’t try to search for you.

Did I leave anything out? Offer your advice here.

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Is This All I’m Qualified For?

Creative way to find a job

I’m under qualified for a job as a front desk receptionist, but I seem to be just the right person for a job in home based sales. Ever received an email like the following from CareerBuilder and wondered, “Is this all I’m qualified for?”

 Good day, 

This is about your profile. New vacancy opening as you indicated. We read with interest your profile detailing your qualifications and relevant work experience on pages of CareerBuilder web site. You certainly have an impressive range of skills and qualifications. We serve some of the best-known corporations in the US and European Union and work on many of the most outstanding experimental escrow sales services for today.

We are currently looking for persons who possess an outstanding work ethic and a mind for business to fill our Official Representative Position.

 Successful candidates must possess normal verbal and written communication skills, be honest and responsible. Previous  experience in service or sales is an added plus.  

Your profit will be 20000 – 50000 annual. It will increase each year.

 

That is one of many positions I am sent on a regular basis as a result of posting my resume in the hope of finding a position with a company. If you have ever received an e-mail such as this, then you may think to yourself, “This can’t be all I’m qualified for.” You may also be wondering what you’re doing wrong in your job search. Resume edit after resume edit and still you receive no promising job leads. What do you do? I hope you don’t give up.

Giving up is usually the first inclination when things seem to be heading nowhere. I’m not going to say that this is the wrong route, and you should pick yourself up and keep trying even harder. I’ve been there. It doesn’t work. Why? You’re not actually ready for the career that you’re seeking. That may be hard to read, but it is the truth. You have got to believe in yourself with a faith that is unshakeable. If you give up, it is equivalent to saying that you are satisfied with less than what you deserve. Is that what you want? Living in a way that perpetuates your belief in the impossibility of your dreams? No? Well then, stop it. Do something different, but don’t just do anything; do it efficiently, and do it well.

Do not allow an e-mail to tell you what you can be in this life. Determine your passions. Develop a plan on how to achieve those goals, and do not quit. Thomas Edison never said that he failed; he always said that he succeeded in finding ways that did not work. The benefit to failure is that you now know what does not work.

So, what are you trying to achieve? What is your passion? Do you know how to get there…from here?

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Help! I’m under-qualified for an internship!

Do a search for jobs in your area, look up the internships, and this is what you will see:  “Are you a student or recent graduate looking to…?”; “…COLLEGE GRADUATES ONLY!”

This is not a new issue, but it is one that deserves increased attention. A college dropout is someone who leaves their place of higher education before obtaining a degree. Today, there are marginalized sectors of people who are no longer in school, but cannot be labeled college dropouts because they did not leave of their own volition. With college affordability becoming increasing difficult, many former students are now stuck in the one of the worst Catch 22 scenarios imaginable. They want to finish their education but they cannot afford to do so. They look for a job to pay down their debt but can only get hourly, part-time jobs that barely cover the cost to commute to work. Hoping for something better, something more in line with their passions, they look for internships in their field. Confronted by the afore-mentioned requirements, they realize they’re under-qualified…for an internship.

For someone who knows exactly what they want their career to be, but they are no longer in school, and did not obtain a degree, this is just plain tiring. All of the advice out there suggests keeping pushing, or to make your own way. Sure, that makes sense. Some of the greatest inventions have come out of a need for something better and more efficient. The question becomes, why should people in this sector have to struggle with something as inefficient as job searching when there could be a better way?

So, what are you trying to achieve? What is your passion? Do you know how to get there…from here?

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