2011 | Page 5 of 7 | Job and Internship Advice, Companies to Work for and More

The Winner of the Dave McClure Shadow Contest!

The Swashbuckling Adventure Begins TODAY!

A few weeks ago, we ran an opportunity for someone to shadow one of Silicon Valley’s most influential figures for 2 weeks. After hundreds of applications and some incredible resumes “kill the cover letter” candidates, a winner was finally chosen: Stefano Bernardi.

Today, the adventure begins and Stefano will be broadcasting the experience through the @daveshadow twitter account. The final candidates were all incredible, but Stefano stood out for his dedication to startups and techy background.

(Summer interns, feel free to ask Stefano questions about the experience, or fish for secrets! i.e. Does Dave actually work for 16 hours every day?!)

Leaving Rome for Startup Paradise:

Stefano is a 24 year old aspiring entrepreneur from Rome, and has already done some pretty big things. In order to galvanize the Italian startup scene, he blogs about startups, is a champion social media user, organizes hackathons, worked as an associate at an Italian VC, and wrote for TechCrunch Europe. His post on Quora to apply to be Dave’s shadow got over 150 up votes and his application included a showcase of development, design, and other startup skills.

Despite all this success, Stefano still felt constrained in Rome. Access to mentors, funding, and all the other important fuel that helps startups take off is still scarce in Italy, especially while compared to the Bay Area. For Stefano, the opportunity to shadow Dave meant a truly life changing experience to get insights from one of the most well connected and successful investors in the world and the opportunity to break into the US startup ecosystem that offers opportunities unlike anywhere else in the world.

Ultimately, after getting the shadow position, Stefano quit his VC job in Italy, moved to the states, and now plans to launch a company at the end of his shadow opportunity.

What will it be like to be Dave’s Shadow?

Dave’s schedule is so packed (in fact he uses over 8 different calendars to manage his day to day), so it’s hard to know exactly what kind of experiences to expect during the 2 week stint. However, a big part of Dave’s philosophy is that transparency is a good thing, so Stefano will be allowed a deeper understanding of how the accelerator team operates. This means Stefano is going to be sitting in on accelerator meetings, listening to company pitches, meeting with mentors, attending big events (including the “Investing in Food Event” hosted at 500 Startups) and last but not least helping out and attending 500 Startups Demo Days.

For those not in the know, Demo Days is the time in which the entire class of startups coming out of 500 presents their business to a room full of investors and press looking to land checks and extra press buzz to carry them to the next level.

Stefano announced his goals earlier in his application and they ran the gamut from mastering internet marketing to learning how Dave makes his investment decisions — all opportunities that will be available during the shadow time period.

Join in on the Fun!

This is a ridiculously cool opportunity for Stefano, but he wants to make it a ridiculous opportunity for anyone who has an interest in entrepreneurship, investing, or what it is like be the world’s most well known pirate/investor. We got things started by creating a “piratelist” of challenges for Stefano to tackle and tweet about while he completes his shadow. This includes activities ranging from interviewing mentors to dressing up like a pirate one day — you can view the list as it gets added to and as activites are completed here. But this is a group effort:

Whether you want to add new tasks for Stefano to complete while he eats, breathes and tweets as Dave’s shadow, or if you have any questions about what it is like to be an entrepreneur in the 500 incubator you can get involved. Leave your recommendations and questions on the InternMatch blog or tweet @daveshadow with #piratelist and we will get back to you asap.

Stay tuned for updates on the entire swashbuckling shadow adventure at @daveshadow, @InternMatch, and with the hashtags #piratelist and #swashbuckling!

Best Practices for AMA Members to Attract Ideal Interns

The American Marketing Association currently has over 40,000 members nation-wide with over 76 professional chapters. While the Association caters to companies of all sizes, it provides a community for small and medium sized business owners to share ideas and advance their marketing goals.

InternMatch has found a growing number of these companies looking to interns as a source of new talent and a way to invest in the future. However, small and medium sized marketing organizations face some unique challenges when looking to hire student interns, namely they must compete with larger, more funded, and heavily branded companies on college campuses.

This resource addresses three key questions to help your company attract and recruit the right interns:

1.) How to assess whether an intern is right for you?
2.) Tips and tricks to attract the best candidates.
3.) Thinking critically about paid internships vs unpaid internships.

Is an intern right for my company?

Intern hiring is booming right now, in fact it has grown by over 800% in the last 15 years. However, one of the most common mistakes being made by small and medium organizations is to jump onto this bandwagon without properly determining if an intern is right for them. Interns can provide tremendous value as short term employees, as providers of new and youthful insights and as potential future hires who you get to try before you buy – however, none of these goals can be successful without investing time and energy into a quality internship program. So, the first step to hiring a great intern is deciding whether to hire one at all.

We have found a few rules you should consider, that make the difference when deciding whether or not to hire an intern:

• Do you have a manager who is interested in having an intern, and willing to dedicate around 5 hours a week to working with the student?
• Do you have a specific project that is helpful to your company, but also manageable for a student with minimal professional experience?
• Have you identified goals for your intern program – whether this recruiting new hires, bringing a new skill-set to the office, or adding youthful perspective to your team?

If you have put thought into these questions and believe that your marketing internship will pay dividends than it is time to figure out how to recruit the ideal candidate.

How to Recruit Better Interns than Fortune 500s and Marketing Juggernauts.

As a small company, students may not know your brand, but you still have a ton to offer. The number one criteria for students when looking for a marketing internship, is finding a highly educational position that helps them get a deeper understanding of what their industry is like. By highlighting in job descriptions and interviews with students, the hard and soft skills they will learn at your internship, you can recruit even the most sought after interns.

For example, InternMatch recruits marketing students on campus every year, and this last year we had seven all-star interns, including the president of Stanford’s senior class. We let students know that they would be working directly with our head of marketing, that we host weekly 1 hour marketing workshops teaching them skills ranging from social media to SEO (including some skills outside the core focus of the position itself) and that we would give the students access to professional tools like Salesforce and Hootsuite which they don’t get in classroom.

By recruiting this way we found exceptional talent and we also found the types of students who were a great cultural fit for our company. These students were ambitious and wanted to work at a smaller organization where their impact would be felt.

The Facts on Paid Internships

A lot of small to medium sized companies are faced with the dilemma of choosing whether or not to pay their interns. This is a tough question because every penny counts and an intern is an unproven commodity. However, research and experience shows that there are tremendous benefits in paying your interns. From the quality of candidates who apply to the ability to manage the students effectively and the likelihood that the intern will come on board as a full time hire, paying your interns ensures that your program achieves its most important goals.

The other key issue to consider is that under current US law, for-profit companies, who derive value from their interns, are required to pay them. This rule is often not enforced at organizations that offer highly educational internships, but the fact is, if you can’t afford even a minimal salary for an intern, you should go back up to the first section of this document and really evaluate why you are hiring the intern in the first place. Many of the companies we work with use their intern programs to make hires worth thousands, complete design and marketing projects, and achieve other goals critical goals – it is almost always worth the extra money when it comes to hiring interns.

Final Thoughts

Like deciding whether to start a new social media account, or launch a new marketing campaign, the decision to hire interns should not be made on a whim. It WILL take time and management buy-in but the rewards can be enormous. Once you decide you are interested in hiring an intern, you should look to pay students, and start going to local universities and posting your position online, pitching the educational opportunity that a student will receive.

Questions For: Max Seunik

“World-Class Intern”

Max Seunik is a sophomore from the University of North Carolina who is interning for IntraHealth International, an NGO based in Chapel Hill, NC, D.C, and Bamako, Mali. After a brief stint in D.C., Max moved to Bamako for the summer in order to implement part of the CapacityPlus Project, focused on increasing the capacity of the health workforce in developing countries. Max’s work focuses on the equality of women in public health, and he conducts all of his research and volunteer work in French. His sense of humor, level head, and genuine love of his volunteer work help him adapt to a country in which most cultural norms are quite different, to say the least!

Q: How did you get an internship

with the CapacityPlus project?

It was completely serendipitous. Ready to fly back home for vacation, I was waiting outside my gate in the airport near a group of professionally dressed people lamenting the lack of French speakers working in public health who could be accessed for an upcoming trip to Senegal.

When a friend from Quebec called, I opted for clearly enunciated French over English – after hanging up, one lady from the group asked me if I was student. When I explained that yes, I was, and I was currently searching for an internship in public health for the summer, she changed her seat to sit next to me on the plane and we ended up having a great conversation! I followed up by email, and landed this internship in Mali with CapacityPlus! She has since become an incredible resource and mentor to me.

Q: What do you do within your internship?

The CapacityPlus project works on increasing capacity in the health workforce. A large percentage of Mali’s health workforce is volunteer-based and female. These women are at risk of discriminatory legal practices that may limit their ability to work, decreasing the country’s health capacity. I’m looking at domestic labor laws and how they discriminate against females. Ultimately, I’m looking for evidence that each of these laws is in accordance with international protocol – ranging from agreements like CEDAW to ILO Conventions.

I create reports and briefs, assess grassroots efforts to inform women about their rights, and trying to take a look at how the relationship between Malian society and law. Specifically, I’m analyzing one of the three systems of law that exists in Mali. Of course this makes things pretty difficult when the different systems of law conflict – which takes precedence?

Ultimately, it’s great when Mali decides to ratify an international agreement – but the reality is that the majority of the country’s population doesn’t see any benefits and remains untouched by the law. I was recently in a remote village near Djenn

Fertility Dances and Interning Abroad

Max Seunik is an intern with CapacityPlus in Bamako, Mali from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Stay tuned for an upcoming interview with Max on his international experience, his work within the organization, and the humor that inevitably accompanies cultural adaptation!

“Where are we going?” I asked my host-father Moussa as we clambered into the back of his beat-up jeep, closely followed by his daughter Assitan and wife Myriam who wore a flowing gown of rich lime-green fabric delicately embroidered with golden trimmings.

“To see a spectacle,” he replied– the word being one of those faux-amis in French; words that at first-glance appear to be their English equivalent, but in fact have an entirely different meaning. In this case, ‘spectacle’ means a show or performance.
We drove from Kalaban-Cora across the Pont-des-Martyrs and through Bamako, the city sweltering under a reddish haze and choked with the smells of fuel exhaust, garbage and sewage. Myriam and Assitan chatted amiably in the backseat in bambara, and I sat with my arm out the window gazing at the people and places as we drove by, reflecting on my first week here in Mali.

“So.. uhh, where are we?” I inquired of Moussa, as we ascended the ridges that surround Bamako and the road went from paved, to packed gravel, to nothing more than a suggestion. The scene became increasingly rural.
“On our way to a village outside Bamako, they are having a celebration to celebrate the town’s founding – Myriam does vaccinations there.” Myriam, a nurse, nodded from the back-seat – “You’ll meet my colleagues!” she added with a laugh.

After a while of jostling around in the jeep, we passed through a grove of mango trees and found ourselves in the middle of a small outcropping of structures – houses clustered around a main thoroughfare with a mosque, small clinic and mango stand close at hand. One thing I learned from the Peace Corps Volunteers I lunched with was that Mali seems to have a season for everything. Rainy season, dry season, mosquito season, gardening season, scorpion season – luckily, I seem to have happened upon mango-season and have since bore delicious witness to the season’s fruits (ha-ha).

Exiting the car we made our way through the crowd of people assembled muttering customary Malian greetings and found seats ringing a large circle of packed earth. In the center of the circle, a group of three men stood pounding out a rhythmic beat on large drums engulfed by swarms of the town’s children – laughing, jumping and spinning in circles around the drummers.

The circle of earth was bordered by many onlookers, the entire village assembled as mic-checks were made, outfits were donned and instruments tested. Within the hour, the mayor of the village had arrived and everyone settled down to watch. During this time, Moussa had been conferring with one of the villagers who urged him to make sure I stayed for the entire performance, which would conclude well into the early hours of the next morning. The villager looked at me, gesticulating wildly with his hands and talking in rapid streams of bambara. Moussa translated, “he’s telling you that there will be many spiritual things – unexplainable things – at midnight three mystical serpents shall appear.” I tried to probe further, asking him where the serpents would appear, how long they would stay, etc. But Moussa just raised his hands and resigned himself, “I am a city person, I know not of these things”

Then the music started.

Over the next hour, the beats from an assortment of drums large and small, the klak-klak-klak of curious wooden bowls ringed with beads andthe shrill wavering notes of the wassoulou singers filled the air. All manners of dancers took the floor – scores of men with a variety of props (everything from a Santa hat to a fake Burberry scarf) pounded their feet against the earth, soon joined by women and then whomever wanted to dance. My personal favourite was an old woman dressed in bright neon colors, who got right in the middle of the festivities and went wild.

After the dancers had tired themselves out, the music changed – taking on a more “tribal” tone. Soon, a dancer appeared, clad entirely in mud cloth with a bulging stomach sporting a fearsome painted mask with golden horns affixed with the idol of a naked pregnant woman. The dancer wildly circled the ring of spectators flailing their limbs and emitting bizarre whoops and screams. The beat of the drums increased in speed and volume, whipping the dancer into a crazed frenzy – until they collapsed on their knees near a spectator, one hand clamped on their bulging stomach. The dancer shook and heaved and pulled a long, red cloth from their loins and presented it to the spectator, an old man. Moussa leaned over to me, “now, they must dance.” Sure enough, the man took the red cloth and paraded into the middle of the circle and danced as energetically and in time as if he had been in training himself. He returned the cloth to the masked dancer and sat back down, to applause from the audience.
The only thing I could think was: Please don’t choose me.

However, I was spared and the dancer took the red cloth and retreated from whence he had come.

Next came a bizarre bird-like creature lead on by a man with a pipe. The same pattern as with the fertility-dancer – the beats would start out calm and gradually increase in speed and intensity until the dancers were going absolutely insane.
The bird soon retreated and the crowd quieted. Then, from both sides of the ring, two masked dancers came streaming in, red ribbons flying from their hands. They circled the crowd, with hands up to their eyes as if they were searching. Searching… searching… but for what? Simultaneously, they both turned towards where I was sitting and descended upon me.
One of the dancers squatted at my feet, while the other begin to pull red cloth from beneath the shirt of the first one, extricating the cloth and handing it to me. Hesitantly, I took the cloth.

I looked to Moussa, he gave me a raised eyebrow “You must dance. It is the way.” he said. Desperately, I looked to his wife Myriam on the other side of me, she was already bent over in laughter.

So, red cloth in hand, I rose from my seat, slowly proceeded to the center of the ring and I danced. Stamping my feet in tune to the music and raising the cloth high above my head, and swishing it around as I had seen done, I expected laughter from the 1000-strong crowd; me, a big white guy, so obviously foreign to this environment was attempting to imitate their tradition.
But instead the crowd began to clap.
In unison, they clapped to the beat of the drums, increasing the fervor and speed until I could scarce keep up. Joined by the two dancers, we spun around the circle for what felt like an eternity stomping and kicking and moving until the claps had turned into applause.

Sweating, I returned to my place.

As soon I had taken my seat, a the villager who had previously told me about mystical serpents leaned over and whispered to me in halting English, “you… you have achieved maximum fertility.”

I expected to experience many new things during my trip to Mali – but I will admit that an increase in fertility was not one of them!

It Never Hurts To Be A Joel-Fan: Q&A with Anna Lewis of Fog Creek Software

The sun is beating down on the sandy beach of a deserted tropical island. Bathed in sweat and grime, you slowly cook in the sun-feeling your skin peel, crackle, and curl like plastic film over a frozen dinner.

Your comrades are reluctantly swallowing roaches with wriggling legs-the only available food to satisfy the gnawing hunger.

Yet, at that very moment, a pint of ice cream appears on the sand.

I love numbers and data more than I love ice cream, but the internship sphere is as bereft of data as a deserted tropical island is of Ben and Jerry’s. Therefore, when I happened upon Fog Creek Software’s internship program data set, I felt as if I was served a pint of ice cream in the scorching heat of a deserted island. It’s an excellent metaphor for the lack of data in the internship space and the relief I felt upon seeing Fog Creek’s stats.

For those of you who are not yet avid fans, Fog Creek is an innovative software company whose ultimate goal is to provide the ideal climate for developers to create amazing software. They go to all lengths to do so-by giving developers everything from 20 outlets (!!) per desk, plasma televisions, and as many monitors as a developer’s heart desires.

Fog Creek is therefore serious about recruiting the best talent, as they invest so much time and energy in to each developer. A significant amount of new developer talent is hacking away in college-Fog Creek wants to find the best college developers, and give them positions.
Therefore, Fog Creek’s data sought to answer the question, “How can we recruit the best students possible?” with a focus on the college career fair recruiting experience.

Career fairs have always been a complete mystery to students. Should I schlep out to each one? Should I network? Should I wear a suit? Should I bring my resume and smack it down on every table that catches my eye?

The data was pretty exhaustive, and of course a rare gem in this sphere-we automatically thought about how it could help students.

How can students use this info to their best advantage at a career fair? How can students use it to get a highly competitive internship at a company like Fog Creek?

We broke down the numbers they offered, and took our questions straight to Anna Lewis, who handles recruiting at Fog Creek.

The Number of Applicants

Fog Creek saw a gigantic increase in their number of applicants over the last year, and divided application quantity by month. The spring has noticeably more applicants than any other season, this fall saw a large increase, and there is a consistent lull during the winter months.

We were so excited by this information: it’s just like knowing what time rush hour traffic happens, or when the line at Starbucks will be alarmingly long, right? Could this data help students apply during the lull period in applications, or during the fall, rather than the spring? Students who do so might receive more attention on their specific application.

We ran these theories by Anna.

What’s the reason behind the dramatic increase in applications this year?

ANNA: “Career fairs definitely bumped up our application numbers in the fall, when we visited 4 schools: Rutgers, Princeton, Carnegie Mellon, and Columbia. We didn’t visit career fairs during that period last year, which accounts for the major difference. Additionally, during the spring, I reached out to professors and college career services centers, who sent emails to their students, causing the enhanced spike in applications during that time. But notice that, while applications increased with our different recruiting tactics (career fairs and professor outreach) over the last year, the spike in applications is definitely greater in the spring for both years.”

Does it serve a student to apply during the December lull, rather than March or September?

ANNA: “No. We dedicate the same attention to each application regardless of when it comes in. Our hiring mantra is “smart and gets things done.” Plus “writes great code.” So that’s what we’re hoping to see evidence of when we get an application. And we’ve spent years building up a screening process – and tweaking it with each new round of applicants — that we think gives each application a fair shake:
1. A resume “rating.” Each student earns points for things like evidence of brains, passion, trying out hard-core technologies. We really try to humanize this process from start to finish.
2. A “code screen” over the phone, where the applicant demonstrates his or her ability to code.
3. A second “code screen.”
4. A day of at least six in-person interviews, each of which requires coding.

So, for us, coding ability is extremely important. Because we’re dedicated to this thorough screening process, it really makes no difference when you apply.”

Hiring developers puts an emphasis on measurable skill rather than the resume-yet, business and more qualitative positions, ensure that your resume is in shape and given to well-rested eyes!

How Do Applicants Hear of A Company?

While there are tons of different outlets that corporations use to publicize their opportunities, most students are learning of new companies and opportunities through web searches and career fairs. How can this help you?

Don’t be afraid to attend that career fair! While you may already know of plenty of companies and opportunities through InternMatch
and the web, career fairs could have hidden gems that you might not know of coming in. Yes, they’re valuable!

We also ran this theory by Anna.

ANNA: “Well, last year was our first year doing career fairs. And what we learned is that, just because career fairs got us more candidates, that didn’t mean they were getting us candidates who were the “right fit” for Fog Creek. Our primary recruiting focus, to be honest, is just doing what we do best – making great software and building a culture that’s ideal for software developers. In that sense, all of us Creekers are “recruiting” all the time, with every new product release and with every happy customer. That’s what attracts candidates who are smart, get things done, write great code, and are excited about our work.”

A company’s priority is different: it’s not the number of applications, or how the majority of applicants hear about them that’s important-what’s valuable is how internship hires hear about a company. While web searches and career fairs are popular, companies will focus on the most valuable outlets for recruiting rather than the most popular.

Fog Creek then broke down exactly what those “most valuable” outlets would be. This chart is incredibly informative for students, and we’ll point out the essentials. We’re focusing on the number that “got an offer” as compared to the number of resumes.

1. Career fair yield is pretty low.

Well, except for Columbia, for some reason-maybe the water? Regardless, we’re going to look at the total ratio of 6 offers for 139 resumes (all of the school’s quantities together.) Based on the number of resumes submitted for each school, offers are quite scarce. Therefore, the “networking” myth of a career fair can be dispelled! A student can assume that ‘showing up’ for a career fair doesn’t give anyone an undue advantage in the application process.

2. A web search/website review is the least effective outlet for exploring a company.

Yes, you might think that a website tells all-but it’s not enough. You need to learn about a company in a deeper manner than their website in order to tailor your resume and application appropriately. It’s now a fact, y’all-the data don’t lie: exploring and “getting to know” a company is more than simply looking over an “About Us.” 4/170 is a really low ratio!

3. Knowing someone in the company (a Creeker) or following relevant blogs and sites in the field is important, but not without skills, too.

Doing so shows dedication and knowledge of the space! Therefore, make sure you’re staying updated on the news in your discipline, and make sure that you have the skills to back that up. If you’re a developer, follow Hacker News and ensure that you’re meeting some interesting people. If you’re a businessperson, read the relevant publications (The Economist, TechCrunch, etc.) and make sure you’re learning skills to go along with that.

4. Being a fan of the CEO is the best idea ever.

If you’re a “Joel fan” (the famous CEO of Fog Creek), it shows that you have serious dedication to FogCreek mindset and ethos. If you’ve followed his blog, you’ve read his books, you’ve consequently followed the company trajectory-and the 4/67 ratio is the highest of them all.

Does this dedication really help with internship acquisition? We know it already makes you pretty cool…

Once again, we ran these theories by Anna.

“It’s all about whether you have passion for the work of your industry” she said, “When students are excited about their field, they find out what their favorite companies are and they engage with those communities.”

We agree. It’s not necessarily about how you apply, or whether you show up at a career fair or not–sustained interest in what a company does counts significantly more. While this isn’t any substitute for talent or skills, it’s a huge factor in increasing your chances of landing that internship!

Career fairs, in short, are not the be-all-end-all of an internship application process. You don’t have to come, you definitely don’t have to wear a suit and you don’t need to be the savvy student that chats with the recruiters with a big cheesy grin. There’s really no difference, at Fog Creek, between putting your resume on the table at a career fair and sending it in through their online system. “We’re really interested in quality applicants, no matter how they come in. But we’ve noticed that many of our quality applicants become our fans before applying for an internship.” Anna said.

Therefore, what do you take away from all of this data? How can you “hack” a career fair and increase your chances of getting an internship?

• Stand out at a career fair by being a real person! Career fairs are a great place to connect on a personal level with the people that work at a company. “Have a real conversation, be natural, and show some of your personality-we have hundreds of 2 minute conversations at a fair, and we’d love to see your passion during that time period.” Find out more about the company, and ask questions about projects that you’re interested in, and relax-this opportunity is really just about you!

• Apply for your internship during the fall and the winter. Yes, Anna did mention that Fog Creek treats every resume the same way, despite time of application, but Fog Creek’s system is the exception—and most people aren’t demonstrating their coding abilities, just showing their resumes. Many other companies are not as organized, and applying during a lull in applications can give you a more rested “eyeball” of your resume and skills. This is especially important in business and more “qualitative” positions than coding.

• Develop a relationship with a company before you apply. If you’re interested in working for a company in a year, start following their blog. Use their products. Tweet at them. Learn more about their culture, track their progress, and become engaged in what they do. By building a relationship, you’ll become more informed about what they do, tailor your skills and interests accordingly, and know what they’ll expect in an intern.

• Show that you’re 1. Smart and can 2. Get things done. Fog Creek looks for interns that are “smart and get things done. And write great code.” No matter what field you’re in, two of those things can apply to you. Let your resume, cover letter, and interview speak to those abilities.

It’s never too early to start thinking about an internship and engaging in something that interests you! By building relationships and paying attention to this awesome (!!!) data, you’re on your way to working at an awesome place like Fog Creek-or anywhere else that offers a fantastic free lunch. (Is there ice cream?)

Startup Roots: How to Hack The Startup World

“Do you want to know how to hack me? Well, I’ll tell you how.”

Dan Martell is an investor, a founder, a marathon runner and a self-described “trusted advisor” in social media. He was the rare 19-year-old to start his own company, on his own capital, and make a huge profit. He was the rare individual to create a company that dominates its space within a year. Now, his newest company Flowtown continues to innovate new tools at the forefront of how we use social networking sites like Twitter.

How can one become like Dan? By first becoming a rockstar intern.

Dan’s Advice on How to Be a Rockstar Intern

Dan gave six pieces of advice that teach entrepreneurs how to fish-rather than simply giving the fish away. By being thoughtful, creative and gutsy as an intern, you can accelerate your own learning curve!

1) Perception is Reality

This is an oft quoted adage, but Dan puts a different spin on it: effectively pitch what you want to be, and it becomes a reality. As a kid, Dan applied for an internship that required a coding expert. Therefore, he pitched himself as such: he printed out and highlighted every piece of code he was proud of in a project that he created. Whether he was an expert or not didn’t matter; Dan was hired. By convincing yourself that you can tackle a variety of challenges you force yourself into situations where that perception becomes a reality. Dan used that experience as a “coding expert” to launch his business and propel his technology career.

2) “Be Lazy”

Or rather use your time wisely. Your boss does not care how many hours you work. If you spend 300 hours on a project or 30, all he or she cares is that it is completed. Therefore, work effectively and reduce time consuming barriers to success. Dan himself often hires individuals to execute menial tasks that take up unnecessary time, like sorting snail mail. He utilizes a service called Upwork to do so.

Dan also applies this philosophy to his own abilities. “I don’t need to be a great engineer” he stated. “To become an expert in something, you need to spend over 2,000 hours -and I don’t have that time. Therefore, I surround myself with great engineers.” Find out where you can apply your efforts most effectively, and concentrate there, and become smarter about your work.

3) “Solve Problems”

If your boss wrote a performance review of you, what would you like it to say? It’s pretty certain that you’d like the words “problem solver” and “takes initiative” used excessively. Therefore, if your boss has a problem: solve it. You’ll become a hero. When Kevin the Flowtown intern was given the vague problem description of wanting to get in touch with the top bloggers in our industry he independently researched and delivered a full list a short time thereafter. “He didn’t ask me how to do it-he just solved my problem and gave me a finished product.”

4) Overcommunicate

Become that person-the one with the notes, the one who emails out the deliverables from a meeting, and the one who over-blogs. It’s a small task for the exponentially greater result of being indispensable. And indispensability is exactly what you want in an internship.

5) “Just ask”

If you want something, or you see a need that needs to be filled: sometimes all you have to do is ask. Reaching out for something and receiving it isn’t unheard of, and it simply relies on your own initiative to do so. Would you like to sit in on a meeting? Ask! Its potential benefit is definitely greater than its minimal cost. Dan described an opportunity at his job (at the age of 19) to have interns work under him. He asked-and hired not one, but two.

6) Hack Individuals (Like Dan!)

Here’s the secret process to hack Dan Martell, or investors similar to Dan. “Get on my radar with something, and then email me intelligently as a follow up. Save my number when I reply to you. Write interesting content, and align it with my interests-follow up again.” Court investors, personalities, and press with content that’s tailored for them-show an awareness of audience.

Dan’s advice on how to be a “rockstar intern,” was really interesting and tangible-but what I really took away from it was his phosphorescent attitude.

Most entrepreneurs who are able to bridge the disconnect between ideas and action, are extraordinary both on paper and in person. They emanate a sense of energy that’s indescribable-except to use the chemical term fluorescent, or filled with intensely glowing, high energy, and excited state electrons. Dan Martell is not just fluorescent-he’s even phosphorescent.

His stories featured an individual that isn’t afraid to take chances-not in the trite sense, but one who reaches out and takes risks when most of us aren’t even aware that there is a risk to be taken. He does so with a confidence and a tendency toward action that “famous-for-procrastination college students” find absolutely foreign. He’s not overly concerned with the New England Puritan inclination for hard work-Dan is willing to skip the labor in order to find a quicker solution. He is the inspiration to deliver, to act on all good ideas, and to leave no opportunity un-seized.

While it’s important to be a rockstar intern and follow Dan’s advice, it’s also more important to not only “aspire” but to be what Dan already is. Treat possibilities like realities, and bridge the gap between ideation and action. Dan always takes action -that’s actually how to hack the process.

Zooming in on the Job: Q&A With Angelie from Prezi

The overworked HR person slumps over his couch with a six pack of Coors in hand. He stares at the thousands of emails flooding his inbox. “I can’t read one more cover letter about how Girl Scouting prepares a student for a marketing job! And I still have hundreds to go!” PDF file after PDF, Word document after Word document, and beer after beer blur together until Girl Scouting, tech interning, and design experience become a sea of swimming Times New Roman. With this mindset, he then opens the next email: YOUR APPLICATION.

Have you wondered what happens to your resume PDF file once you’ve submitted it for a position? Hundreds and thousands of similar files with very similar qualifications go to HR committees, which are often stressed and underfunded. After thousands of applications, yours needs to stand out to prevent the overworked HR person from collapse!

How? Try a creative mechanism to write your application, such as Prezi.

You might have heard of Prezi-if you watch TED Talks, follow the tech scene, or attend a tech-savvy university. It is a zoomable online presentation tool, that revolutionizes powerpoint in a graphic-friendly way.

Using Prezi to write resumes and cover letters is incredibly effective. As part of our “Kill the Cover Letter” campaign, we saw that interns who used creative mechanisms like Prezi for resume and cover letters were 10X more likely to get an offer. You can see some great “Prezumes” online, one of which is from Angelie Agarwal, who is the Chief Evangelist at Prezi.

Love this Prezume? Want one of your own? Angelie gave us some great tips on creating an amazing Prezi that will stand out from the pack!

TARA: Why is Prezi a great tool for students applying for jobs?

ANGELIE: Whether you’re applying for a job or contest, standing out from the other applicants is so important. You don’t want to get lost in a sea of Word documents! People forget that the Office Suite has been around for 30 years, and is based on 35mm slides from the 50’s. Prezi treats the eyes to something completely new. For every 100 resumes, there might be one Prezume, which is great.

Students are also applying for a lot of forward thinking jobs, and many are applying for jobs within the field of social media. Applying for a forward thinking position with an old technology makes no sense. Using Prezi makes you a leader in that arena, rather than a follower.

T: What are the important tips and tricks for a Prezume?

A: Just like any other technology, Prezi can be used well and can be used badly. You want it to be professional, informative, and creative.

Therefore:
• Keep it minimal. The zooming action of Prezi is already engaging and catches the eye, and too much content can be too much to look at.
• Focus on the relevant information: Just like with any resume, some information is important to employers and some is less so.
• Just like paragraphs in a traditional resume, use frames to group relevant information that goes together.
• Your use of colors and fonts should be professional-don’t use six colors on a Prezume, as it’s not very easy on the eye.
• Hide the details and make them very small, so that only those interested in learning more about that particular detail need to see it. For example, on my resume I listed Stanford and the details of my time there. The details were small so that only those who wanted to see them needed to zoom in.
• Embed videos! If you’re applying to a job where you must demonstrate a skill, embed a video of yourself performing that skill.
• To ensure that the HR person knows how to work your presentation (there are directions sent with every link) you can include a “Press Play Here” and an arrow pointing to the play button.

T: What are some common pitfalls associated with making a Prezi/Prezume?

• Too much zooming and rotating is difficult to watch. Once again, keep it minimal.
• Frames must be used effectively-when you have a lot of information, frame effectively and group related topics.
• Awareness of audience-while Prezumes can be a great tool for some jobs, others might additionally need a PDF file of your resume.
• Be creative!

T: Do you have any great Prezume stories?

A:There are so many great stories of individuals who have gotten jobs, won contests and done amazing things with Prezi. The largest prize won thus far has to be NYU grad Jonathan Chan’s $50,000 for his presentation on savings programs. He was featured on CNBC live!

There’s no doubt that Prezi is an exciting tool to use for an application, especially in a field where creativity, graphic design, or technology is emphasized. Yet, though they are the perfect way to catch an HR department’s attention, you need to excercise caution. Applying to an exceptionally traditional firm (we’re thinking of the types who don’t know what an iPod is yet) will not appreciate deviation from established technologies. In those cases, including a PDF resume in addition to a Prezume will be to your benefit.

Nevertheless, from the curator of TED Talks, to a 50,000 contest winner, to our own Kill the Cover Letter Applicants, Prezi has been an amazing chance to stand out in an applicant pool of thousands.

The haggard HR employee reaches for his sixth beer of the night, and opens the next file: your application. “What’s this? A link instead of an attachment?”

Your Prezume opens, and he watches your presentation.
“Refreshing! Awesome!” he cries.

You have the job.

Questions For: Adam Jutha

“Millennial Uprising”

Opinions of a dedicated policy intern on his job, life in D.C. and youth action.

Adam Jutha is a rising junior from Toronto and a Nathan J. Stark Intern at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI) in Washington, D.C. He landed the position through the Roosevelt Institute, a progressive student policy organization that engages its members in policy experience through campus initiatives and summer internships. At NASI, Adam is definitely getting an education on policy matters — his knowledge of complex social insurance policy is robust! I took the opportunity to sit down with him to discuss his work, his day-to-day life as an intern, and the truly important question: boxers or briefs?

(For more information on applying to internships like Adam’s, check out our cover letter tips, resume tips, and our “Mythbusters Political Internships” article.)

Q: What’s your role as an intern from the Roosevelt Institute at the National Academy of Social Insurance (NASI)?

I am learning about social insurance and nonprofit development at NASI. I am also helping the organization in realize its mission to promote understanding about social insurance.

I’ll bring back my new knowledge and its impact on the Millennial generation to Roosevelt, so that I can contribute the best policy recommendations possible.

Q: So, all of these are pretty lofty purposes; how is this accomplished day-by-day?

Well, the day-by-day of my internship varies based on the tasks I’m given. On any day, I’ll come to my office desk with a project I’ve been assigned, like the recent 25th Anniversary Celebration for NASI, an event that I helped plan and execute – it was a great learning experience! While at the office, I assist others with their projects if asked. Away from my desk, I attend summits and sessions related to social insurance, the economy and other key policy issues pretty frequently. After those sessions, I love exploring DC and meeting other interns.

Q. Do any of your tasks involve filing papers, getting coffee: the usual intern standbys?

NONE of that! I get to do real work learning about issues that I am interested in! I really feel like an equal in the office: the organization consists of 15 people and I really enjoy working with the team!

Q: How does that translate into a relationship with your supervisors?

My relationship with my supervisors is through conversation: we’ll have a conversation about what projects I’d like to undertake, what summits and sessions I plan to attend, and what I will be working on. Once we’ve had those conversations, I’ll keep up-to-date on completing my project deliverables. It’s fantastic!

Q. What are your takeaways from your internship that you’re bringing back to Roosevelt?

I really love my job and the general atmosphere in DC. I’m learning about social insurance, health policy, and nonprofit development. I’m really learning from the professionals and the experts I get to meet in the field. I’m taking away skills about how to run a nonprofit organization, learning about the management structure, and other important components. The team is so willing and eager to help me understand their work-it’s great!

Q. What’s your favorite part about your internship?

One of my favorite things was a summit I got to attend-the “2011 Fiscal Budget: Solution Initiative.” This summit consisted of 6 think tanks that were invited to propose a national budget and come up with solutions for the budget challenge-too many places need money, and there’s not enough of it! The Roosevelt Institute represented the usually underrepresented Millennial perspective. We were able to contribute a budget at the event, discuss it, and speak with amazing individuals. Former President Bill Clinton was a keynote speaker, and it was really wonderful (and insanely cool) to be at the same summit!

Q. Last question, Adam-Did Bill Clinton wear boxers or briefs?

Umm….I’m not going to speculate on that.

In keeping with historical precedent-we’re thinking “usually briefs”

-Tara Seshan

The Internship Sorting Hat: The Harry Potter Cast Become Interns

College Candy recently sent the Harry Potter cast to colleges within the US: due to our love of the series, we couldn’t resist doing the same! The Harry Potter crew is getting internships and joining the working world-we know they can master Transfiguration, but is there a spell to help work an Excel spreadsheet? Microsoft calculatus, anyone?
Luna Lovegood-NASA Internship Program

Luna’s out of this world; working with the space program wouldn’t require her to travel much further. Perhaps she can launch a Dirigible Plum into outer space!

Fred and George Weasely- Funny Or Die

We think Will Ferrel and the Weasely twins would get along just fine-working at Funny or Die would allow their collective comedic genius to flourish. It would be great if the twins created a spin-off of their own–they do love entrepreneurship and creating their own companies.

Neville Longbottom- Duke Botanical Gardens
Let’s hope they don’t grow bubotubers and Mandrakes at the Duke Botanical Garden. Nevertheless, Neville’s knack with plant life will help him tremendously in this competitive internship program

Cho Chang- Fashion Magazine
Cho’s pretty and popular among her friends-and as she’s a Ravenclaw, we know she’s smart, too. Working in the magazine world requires smarts and the ability to stay on top of fashion and media trends.

Draco Malfoy- BP (Beyond Petroleum)

You could say that Malfoy already “interns” for Voldemort, and an oil spill seems within Voldemort’s repertoire. We’re just making the next logical conclusion, here.

Ron Weasely- Intern for the San Francisco Giants

Ron’s a people-person, loves sports, and has a logical “chess player’s” attitude-he’d be perfect for an internship in baseball! The fact that the orange of the Giants gear is the same color as Ron’s hair is just an added perk.

Hermione Granger- Researcher at an international think tank.

She’s clever, book smart, and an excellent researcher-therefore, she’d excel at strategic problem solving. We also hear she has quite the talent for international affairs-remember her boyfriend Viktor Krum, the Bulgarian Quiddich star?

Harry Potter- Intern for a Silicon Valley startup

Harry’s a leader, bold, and never afraid to back down. He’s also a little nerdy and lives on risk. He’d therefore work really well in an innovative start-up environment, attempting to solve the world’s problems with technology on his side. Move over, Google: Harry would ensure his employees “don’t be evil!”

How to Master The Interview Process and Catch the Golden Snitch

Acing an interview is a bit like catching the Golden Snitch in a Quidditch Match. While it doesn’t guarantee success, it goes a long way in stacking the odds in your favor.

If you are at the interview stage of the application process, it’s because the company felt your skills and background fit the bill! Yet, resumes and cover letters are simply paper and words; those hiring want to get to know the real you. Interviews offer a chance to demonstrate your abilities, professionalism, and persona to win a company over. At the same time, a negative interview can send a great candidate to the bottom of the pile.

Never let that happen to you! Follow these tips before, during, and after your interview, and you’ll be riding away on your Firebolt in no time.

Before:

1) Research the Company and the Position Description:

At the interview stage many employers are looking to see if you are the right cultural fit for their office and are passionate about their work. Take the time to explore the company’s webpage, peruse any literature you may have, review the position description if provided, and read any recent news articles about the company. Use this information to prepare educated questions and tailor interview answers to company interests!

2) Practice Makes Perfect:

Interviewing, like all skills, is improved with practice. Therefore, you should never go into an interview without preparation. Find family members, friends, or University Career Advisors, to serve as the “interviewer.” It may feel funny to do full length practice interviews but it is really important to get comfortable with the process from start to finish.

3) Know your Application and Resume:

You should be 100% prepared to walk interviewers through every detail on your resume as well as respond to questions related to your application. For example, if you’ve stated in your resume that you were in Investment Club, be prepared to speak about your experience.

4) Take Care of Logistical Details as Early as Possible:

Is it a phone interview? Make sure you know who’s calling whom, and that the phone numbers are correct. Make sure that your phone is charged and that you’re in a relatively quiet location during the call.

Is the interview in person? Know the address and route, while taking into account transportation time and any other potential delays. Make sure your clothing is clean, ironed, and ready to wear before the day of your interview.

During:

5) Arrive Early:

Aim to arrive at least 15 minutes early so that you won’t be stressed if you get lost or have hard time parking. During the wait, take the chance to settle nerves and make sure your appearance is neat.

6) Act with Confidence:

Confidence, not stubbornness, can turn an average interview into a great one. If you speak with confidence and assurance, interviewers are more likely to respect your answers. You’re only as correct as you think you are — believe in yourself!

7) Take Advantage of Pauses:

Take the pause after a question is asked to compose your answer. Thinking through what you are about to say will prevent stuttering and “ums” while responding.

8) Don’t overstress “Hardball” Questions:

Employers might ask you a question that you haven’t prepared for, and that’s okay. Think through your answer intelligently, and come up with a coherent response. They don’t necessarily expect you to have prepared an answer, as they’re often just testing your ability to think on your feet.

After:

9) Send a Follow-Up Email the Day Of:

Send your interviewers an email thanking them for the interview. Be succinct and professional — this is your last chance to make a great impression!

10) Consider Sending a Thank You Card:

If you’d like to thoroughly impress your future employers, handwrite a thank you card and drop it in the mail as you leave. Snail mail and handwriting show that you took the extra effort!

Now you’re almost ready to run onto that Quidditch pitch!

Last thing to do?

Believe that you are awesome.

We can’t reiterate this enough, and of course it’s easier said than done. Yet when you’re feeling overly modest, you’re really not doing yourself justice. Think of the interview as a simple conversation, and know that the people on the other side of the desk have been in your position. They must already think you have potential if you’ve gotten this far!

Take some deep breaths, and act with as much confidence as possible. With the right preparation before, during and after the interview, you’ll have caught that Snitch-and have a grown-up job unrelated to Harry Potter-in no time at all.