InternshipRatings.com

I recently read this short article in the Wells Fargo Daily Advantage publication. I have heard from professors and professionals the importance of a good handshake, but somewhat dismissed the tip. A new study conducted by Greg Stewart emphasizes the handshake as a major factor in the hiring process. Since the internship is considered a summer long interview, think about the kind of first impression your handshake will give.

Pssst, here’s a hot tip for people interviewing for jobs. When you meet the interviewer, give a good hearty handshake. A study conducted by Greg Stewart, a professor of management at the University of Iowa, found that a firm handshake is the key to getting the offer. The professor tested 98 students by having them interview with business people and also shake hands with people trained to rate handshakes. Both groups rated each student’s performance and hireability, and they rated the students with strong handshakes as the most hirable. Says Stewart: “We probably don’t consciously remember a person’s handshake or whether it was good or bad, but the handshake is one of the first non-verbal clues we get about the person’s overall personality. And that impression is what we remember.” (The full results of the study will be published in the September issue of The Journal of Applied Psychology.)

According to Stewart, you can execute a good handshake by following a few simple rules:

1. Form a complete and firm grip (no finger squeezers, no dead mice)

2. Make a vigorous up and down movement (but remember you’re not chopping wood)

3. Make eye contact (no I’m-the-dude sunglasses or redeye)

–Stephanie

By Joe Grimaldi
Chief Executive Officer
Mullen

Here are some thoughts from Joe Grimaldi who is the CEO at Mullen. Mullen is a renowned advertising agency with locations in Massachussetts, North Carolina, Pennsylvania and Michigan. As a huge supporter the internship program, Joe actively engages with interns on various occasions. He speaks to them during their first week during a lunch and learn session, judges their final new business presentation, and loves to get to know them in the cafeteria.

1. What do you feel is the most differentiating feature about Mullen’s internship program, and how has this benefited the students, and the agency?

“We care about the education the interns get and put time, energy and senior management involvement into it. We need the best people to come into the business if we are to be a competitive industry, and the best way to do that is to help shape them. It’s an industry cause.”

2. Did you intern anywhere before you started working? If so, where? What was it like?

“No. I got lucky and walked out of school in Manhattan and into the media department of a top 5 agency.”

3. Name one trait you love to see in your interns, but feel you don’t see enough of?

“Two things, actually: 1) Being a sponge that absorbs everything with unbridled enthusiasm and organized thought. 2) The ability to voice original thought and ideas in a way that is not easily dismissed by people with significantly more experience.”

By Michael R. Ratty
Director of Communications
Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences

One hand on the steering wheel, one hand on a hastily printed map, I nearly swerved into oncoming traffic on the two-lane bridge. It was a humid June afternoon and I was panicking on my first day of an internship with The Lowell Sun, a daily newspaper in Lowell, Mass. Only ten minutes earlier, I had been handed my first reporting assignment, covering a press conference announcing a new affordable housing measure for the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. I had expected my first day to be filled with inane duties like finding an empty cubicle and having my employee ID picture taken. I was wrong.

I was on summer break before my senior year at Ithaca College and, like most journalism majors, I had agonized over where I would intern. My first choice was the Boston Globe and my second choice was the Sun’s internship program, which had four paid, full-time positions. The Globe program, although unpaid (the Globe name was the payment…) was renowned for landing impressive placements for its graduates. Up against Ivy Leaguers and students from higher profile journalism programs like Syracuse and NYU, I was not offered a position. Disappointed but undaunted, I pursued the Sun’s program because of the experience I anticipated receiving. After two rounds of interviews, I was given the good news on the last day of classes. At the time, I felt like the last kid picked at gym class. That feeling would not last long.

Fast forward two weeks to my second day on the job, and that affordable housing article was published on the second page of the metro section. After being thrown into the fire and succeeding on that first day, there was no challenge I couldn’t handle over the next three months. There was no reason to be timid and every reason to be fearless. I knew that although the Sun’s name may not leap off the resume for a prospective employer, a thick stack of writing clips would.

At the Sun I wasn’t treated like a typical intern, and around the newsroom I was treated in accordance with my articles’ bylines: Michael R. Ratty – Staff Writer. Over the course of the summer I would publish over 25 articles for the newspaper, seven of which appeared on Page One. As you might expect, the topics of my articles ran the gamut:
-“’Up In Smoke Tour’ a rap lover’s paradise”
-“Hibernians give gift of green at Middlesex”
-“Taking aim at video-game violence”
-“State aiming to cut mercury levels in water”
-“Sovereign makes a solid first impression with Lowell leaders”

My articles appeared in every section of the newspaper and, more importantly, my editors gave me the freedom to come up with my own article ideas. A good example was when I wandered over to my editor’s desk and asked if he knew what Napster was. It sounds silly now, but in the summer of 2000 music downloading was still in its infancy and people were still taking sides on the issue. With a little cajoling, I convinced him there was a great feature waiting to be written. Three weeks and dozens of interviews later – I even tracked down the uncle of Napster founder Shawn Fanning on Cape Cod – the newspaper featured the story on its front page. I was getting my hands dirty on every article by doing all of my own research, fact checking, and even some photography.

By the time my last day arrived, I hadn’t fetched one fax or cup of coffee. I was simply a writer, something I had dreamed about as long as I could remember. I would be lying if I told you that, given the opportunity back in May 2000 to choose between the Globe and the Sun, I would have chosen the Sun. But the fact is that after graduating, those writing clips helped me land two jobs and various freelance opportunities. Although it wasn’t the flashiest or most prestigious internship, my time at the Sun turned out to be one of the most valuable experiences of my life.

In its own unique way, I did indeed land my dream internship. It just took a little creative driving to get me there.

Michael Ratty is the Director of Communications at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences. He holds a BA in Print Journalism from Ithaca College, and resides in Boston’s North End. He can be reached at ratty.michael@gmail.com.

By Steve Raymund
Chairman of the Board of Directors
Tech Data Corporation

Working as an intern is a great opportunity to learn what it means to live inside the world and culture of corporate America. With open eyes and ears, you can acquire important skills and knowledge that will help you succeed in your future career. Perhaps more importantly, you can learn a lot about yourself and what kind of work environment best fits your own personality.

Quite often that first or second internship culminates in an exciting job offer and the chance to build a career inside a company you now know, and that knows and values your contribution in return. Here’s a few tips to maximizing your success in the corporate America:

You may be a stranger in a strange land, unfamiliar with its social conventions, so take your time to learn how things get done in this new world. Listen, watch, take notes, study and reflect on your experience. Remember, company cultures can differ remarkably from one another. Intel, for example, is renowned for its culture of confrontation, while HP, in contrast, places high value on collaboration. Although a company may have formal procedures and rules, quite often it’s through informal networks and processes that more can be accomplished. So be diligent in learning about your company’s social norms to avoid making a silly faux pas, and to ensure that you maximize your effectiveness.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help and advice. If given an assignment, seek counsel and feedback along the way vs. waiting until your finished project is ready for formal unveiling. I’ve seen people waste weeks of work by misinterpreting their original instructions and finishing up with a worthless product. A better alternative is frequent checkpoints with your boss or colleagues during which you’re likely to hear great suggestions to improve your end product. That way you’re more likely to stay on track with the original assignment.

Be timely in everything you do. Show up to meetings a few minutes early. Deliver your reports when due. People don’t like to hear excuses for tardiness, delays and missed deadlines. To be sure, delays are sometimes unavoidable, but don’t wait until the last minute before informing your boss that you can’t deliver your work on time. It’s much better to provide an early heads up, which might in fact create an opportunity to enlist help in flattening the obstacles slowing your progress.

Be cordial, not saccharine. People spend more of their waking time at work than just about anywhere else, and would, in most cases, prefer it to be a pleasant experience. Sullen, negative attitudes are a real turn-off in and outside the workplace. The wrong attitude can put you on the bottom of everyone’s list for special assignments, project teams, and promotions, despite your technical skills. By the same token, it’s important not to go overboard in the other direction, annoying people with your garrulous chirping.

Always be honest and truthful. A number of years ago we were recruiting a senior financial executive for our Latin American operations. Our lead candidate had all the right qualifications: great experience, Ivy League MBA, and an easy and intelligent manner. Until reaching me, he had won over everyone who had met him. Our interview together was the last stop before offering him the job. In reviewing his resume, I noticed that our candidate had listed fluency in Portuguese as one of his skills, which for a Latin American job was quite relevant. His resume did not qualify his degree of fluency to reading only, or any other limitation. Since I once lived in Brazil and am reasonably comfortable in the language (at least one on one), I switched to Portuguese once formal introductions were complete. Poor guy, you could see his face fall as soon as he spoke, for he could barely assemble a complete sentence in the language, at which point our interview was over.

The lessons above seem like pretty basic common sense right? Pay attention; be curious; show up on time; be friendly but professional; tell the truth. You’d be surprised how many people have trouble with these things.

By Linda Greene
Executive Director
WISE Services

You’ve researched your field, contacted possible placements, made calls, and landed the internship you wanted. So you’re all set? Not quite! To make the most of your internship, here are some tips to turn your weeks or months as an intern into a truly worthwhile learning experience.

1) Set goals for your internship. What do you hope to get out of your experience?
What do you hope to learn? Which skills would you like to develop? Where in the organization would you like to work? Which people in the placement are those you wish to work with? Who else can help you? By setting goals, you will give your internship experience some direction and a way by which to measure the experience at its conclusion.

2) Meet with your supervisor and make sure you communicate what you hope to gain from your internship experience. Listen to his or her suggestions regarding how you will be used as an intern, but don’t be afraid to ask for what you want if it’s not initially offered to you. You will, of course, be more successful in this discussion if you are respectful and well prepared (here is another way setting some goals will be of use!)

3) Keep a journal of your experiences. By documenting your daily work activities and keeping track of the people you meet, you’ll have the information you need to summarize your experience in your resume and a record of your internship for future reference. Reflections on the experience will help you remember more about it and make the journal fun to read in the future. Keep updating your goals and make lists of things you hope to do and accomplish as the internship progresses. How are you doing on meeting the goals you set for your learning and for skill development?

4) Try to make contacts and develop relationships within the organization. These will be of use in the future when you’re looking for a job (perhaps within this same organization!) and when you need references. Respect people’s need to get their job done – they might not have time to chat with you, but if they do, use that time to learn as much as you can about the work they do and what preparation they have had. What recommendations would they make to you as you get ready for the job world?

5) Keep the communication lines open. If you’re not happy with your placement or the duties assigned to you, try to find ways to demonstrate your abilities and your knowledge.
Talk to your supervisor so they know you’re seeking another type of experience or more hands-on opportunities.

6) Stay positive. No matter how good or not so good your internship is, it still counts as experience. Some times internships help you realize you’ve been on the wrong track with your job interests. Maybe the fit isn’t good and you should think about changing your focus and direction. That’s a good thing to learn early in your career, so don’t feel “down” about it. It’s a job to add to your resume and a set of experiences you can draw on in the future. Be sure to thank those people who have helped you and keep in touch with them for the future. Good luck and enjoy your internship!

Linda Greene is the Executive Director of WISE Services, a not-for-profit organization which assists schools in developing a program of individualized, student-designed, and interest-driven projects and internships. Over 80 high schools across the U.S. have started WISE Programs. If you are interested in the program, please contact wiselindag@optonline.net.

Welcome to the newest InternshipRatings.com addition!

As students ourselves, we understand the need for advice from professionals. After our internships last summer, we realized how many questions arise before, during and after an internship. What makes a good resume? How do I ask for a letter of recommendation? How do I make my internships “worth the coffee”?

Take Note: Expert Advice from Industry Professionals will feature articles from various contributors of different backgrounds and specialties, offering advice about internships. You will see posts by career counselors, HR personnel and company executives. Whether you are a sports intern, finance intern or just looking for an internship, Take Note will answer some of the questions you might be too afraid to ask and didn’t know to ask.

We encourage you to post comments and interact with our writers. Please feel free to ask more questions or even suggest topics. This column is for you, so let us know what advice you really need! For now just take note…

Enjoy,

Lauren and Stephanie
Founders

P.S. Don’t forget to rate your internship!