Thanksgiving is a time to strengthen and build on personal relationships

This is a guest post from Jennifer Musika – an attorney with the law firm Walzer & Melcher LLP. She was selected as a Southern California Rising Star for 2010 and 2011. She started her career as an intern for the Legal Aid Society in college.

By Jennifer Musika

The family law community is very close knit, and most of the practitioners are familiar with each other. If you have an interest in a particular industry, this can be to your advantage. Each of the attorneys I worked for during law school either recommended me for or referred me to my next job. In fact, at the end of my internship in Boston, when I told my firm I was moving to LA, they gave me several people to contact. I was hired by one of those contacts, and I have worked at this firm for over three years. I have seen countless examples of the importance of relationships during the internship process, job interviewing process and every day interactions in my career.

Understandably, it can be intimidating as a student to approach your boss or manager during your internship, but forming relationships now may lead to new opportunities and pay off much further down the road.

Your boss’s career could be a peek into your future.

Law school is a huge investment, in many senses, and it is wise to be sure before you make the choice to apply and enroll. I worked for the Legal Aid Society during the summer before my senior year of college. Not only did I enjoy the work I was doing, but I also observed the attorneys, talked to them about what they liked and didn’t like about working in the field, and really thought about the skills and responsibilities I would need for a position like theirs. They were a valuable resource and ultimately helped me decide to pursue a legal career. The relationships I built were the key to success.

So this holiday season, as you eat turkey with friends and family, and celebrate what is meaningful to you, take some time to reflect on relationships – old and new – and know that the effort you put in today will certainly pay off in the long run. Good luck to all in their internship search, and happy holidays.

Make sure to keep building relationships & have a Happy Thanksgiving! You can follow Jennifer Musika on Twitter @caldivorce.

David Qaoud (@DavidQaoud on Twitter) is a marketing and advertising student at Northwest Missouri State University who is on track to graduate in December.

By David Qaoud

For the past two summers, I have done an Internship with AT&T Services downtown St. Louis, Mo. To say that I have learned a lot would be an understatement. I want to give you some helpful advice on how you can absolutely thrive during your internship. Of course there’s more than 10, but the following are the top 10 things every intern must do:

Tip #1: Take Initiative.

Inspired by a recent Harvard Business Review Article, taking initiative is the single most important thing you must do during your internship. Your job is to make your boss’ life easier and produce results. Always try to anticipate what your boss needs and deliver it before he or she asks.

Tip #2: Work Hard.

To state the obvious, you must work hard. Every day you must have the mentality that you’re going to give 110% effort in all that you do. Once you leave after completing your internship your boss may forgot a lot about you, but if you worked hard, he or she will never forget that.

Tip #3: Be Humble.

Most interns aren’t humble. Don’t be that intern. Cultivate a sense of humility in your life in and out of work. Nothing is more attractive than humility and nothing is more unattractive than arrogance. Pride comes before destruction and humility comes before honor. Which do you prefer?

Tip# 4: Under Promise and Over Deliver.

This is a sure fire formula for success. Credentials are good but results are better. You got in the door but to stay in the door you must produce. Period. Under promising and over delivering in everything will help you in that area.

Tip#5: Be Quick to Listen and Slow to Speak.

The last thing you want to be known for is the intern who talked too much. The more you talk the less people listen. The more words you use the less power your words will have. Listen twice as much as you talk and you will thrive in your communication.

Tip #6: Treat Everyone Equally.

I met Randall Stephenson who is the CEO and Chairman of AT&T. I have also interacted with most of the custodians on my floor. Always show respect for everyone and never show partiality because of someone’s status or position. Treat everyone the same and treat others the way you want to be treated.

Tip #7: Never Feel Inferior.

The moment you feel superior or inferior your identity is in the wrong place. In one sense you must be humble, but in another you must have confidence. If you don’t believe that you can get the job done, no one else will. Be confident and don’t feel inadequate.

Tip #8: Ask a Lot of Questions.

I can’t stress this enough. Ask as many questions as you can. It’s better to ask a stupid question than it is to make a stupid mistake that could have been avoided. Your boss knows you’re an intern and they expect you to ask questions. Never hesitate to do so.

Tip #9: Be Observant.

Perhaps the most shocking thing I learned while interning is the amount of gossip and immaturity that is prevalent within the workforce today. Some people in their forties still act like they’re 14. Take note of everything—avoid the negative things and imitate the positive ones.

Tip #10: Take Advice.

I have met a lot of senior executives within AT&T. The main question I always ask at the end of our time together is, “What’s the biggest piece of advice that you have for me?” Executives love to answer that question and I have learned a great deal from doing so.

My advice for you? Follow those ten steps.

Cynthia Vallecillo (@cvallecillo903) is a student at the University of Central Florida who maintains a blog on the cuisine and sights of sunny Florida.

By Cynthia Vallecillo

Summertime was quickly approaching, and while the rest of the world had the beach in mind, I had internship on my mind. I made it a goal to pursue and obtain a summer internship in communications. I quickly learned that it would not be easy and that I needed to put myself out there. I began looking into all the social media resources that would advance my search for this internship. I started a Twitter page and, because of my love for writing, I decided to start my own blog — which in turn multiplied to two blogs. Although entering the social media world was assisting with my internship search, I needed to physically get myself out there and meet my potential internship.

That same day, I got a reply from Patty, who was excited to inform me that she was looking for an intern to work in her marketing department.

Book stores are a typical setting in my life, and on this particular day, my friend accompanied me for some insightful reading. At the book store, we wandered off to our desired sections. After a few minutes I went to the audio section, where I found my friend actively engaged in conversation with a friendly-faced woman. I walked over to join and was introduced to Patty. Patty was so vibrant, her energy was contagious from the moment we were introduced. Thirty minutes later, the conversation came to an end and I asked for her business card.

After the book store encounter, I decided to email Patty and invite her to my meditation class, which she showed interest in when we first met. The emailing continued for a couple of weeks when I decided to include in one of my emails my search for a summer internship. I was hesitant at first to ask her if she knew of anyone or anything that would offer a summer internship in communications. I thought to myself, “What do I have to lose?” That same day, I got a reply from Patty, who was excited to inform me that she was looking for an intern to work in her marketing department. She was relieved and ecstatic that her intern search would soon be over, and was more than willing to give me an opportunity. Prior to the internship offer, I had shared my blogs, Twitter, and Facebook page with Patty and expressed to her what career I was looking for. She knew exactly the experience  I was searching for and offered me all that and more.

Shy of two months of our first meeting, I currently work side by side with Patty as a sales and marketing coordinator for GeneWize Life Sciences. I have been working at GeneWize for only two weeks, and already I have been exposed to event planning and entering the communications world. Overall, I will be introducing GeneWize to the social media world getting the company and the products out there, while assisting with events.

If you want something, you have to go for it. There can be no hesitations, and putting yourself out there is vital. Talk to anyone and everyone. You may just walk away with an internship.

Ashley Peek, bottom right, poses with other members of the summer staff at Grazie, a fine dining establishment in Bloomington, Ind.

Ashley Peek is a sports communication major at Indiana University and former intern for the Indiana Pacers.

By Ashley Peek

There are towns all across America that are defined by one thing. But that one thing is a variety of things all melted into one.

What may this one thing be, you are pondering? Well … they’re college towns, of course.

“The summer is a great time to get in with the locals.”

From Tempe, Ariz. to Madison, Wisc.; from Lawrence, Kans. to Chapel Hill, N.C. These are towns known generally for their greater production during the school year, but don’t be fooled: People live here all year round.

And that is an adventure I am taking this summer in Bloomington, Ind.: A town full of quarries, fine dining and national sporting events.

So I’m here to help you learn how to make the most of a summer in your college town, if you choose to take that dusty trail.

Maybe you have to stay to take summer classes, because it’s a lot more fun than doing it at the community college near home. Or maybe you just enjoy not living with your parents. (You were all thinking it.) Whatever you reason may be, don’t waste your days on Netflix or doing the same things you do during the school year — take the time to explore.

For instance, Bloomington has several recreational areas I’ve never found time to visit during the school year. Lake Monroe is a just a few miles from here, perfect for a nice beach day on the hot summer sand. Or, I could go to the campus golf course to play a few holes.  There are always a few uncharted paths you can take to create your own adventures.

Lake Monroe, Indiana

But don’t just spend all your energy in the sun. The summer is a great time to get in with the locals. Start working at a retail store, or a restaurant. You’ll soon realize most of these small business owners know each other, and talk regularly. Not only can you help yourself out by getting paid, but you can build a network within your current city.

This past semester, I started working at a high-end restaurant here in town, and during my interview, I started talking about marketing. Lo and behold, I found out the owner was looking for a marketing intern. I nearly spilled a glass of water in my excitement to help. And just like that, I landed myself a summer job and internship.

Although I’m not majoring in marketing, and the restaurant world isn’t my top career objective by any means, it is still a way to build a network and make connections.

However, I still have the mentality of a college student and realize summer vacations probably will be over after I complete my last year of college next spring.

That being said, I never let a night on the town go to waste. There are plenty of music venues, pubs and bars I never went to during the school year. Since the summer has started, I’ve already had my check-ins on Foursquare grow.

So remember, you can still have a successful summer staying in your beloved college town. Just know that it’s all what you make of it.

Colleen Sabatino

This guest post is part of a series for new grads, written by the career experts at our sister company, CareerBeam.  Read on for tips about networking from Colleen Sabatino, CareerBeam founder and Nationally Certified Career Counselor.

While networking is frequently discussed as the most important career search strategy, it is not clearly understood by the majority of recent graduates. So to help you get the process right from the start, here is the easiest way to know if you have engaged in networking or simply had a conversation with someone: Networking has occurred if at the end of the conversation, you have obtained at least one of the following three pieces of information:

• The name of a person you can contact who is in a similar or better position to help you, than the person with whom you just spoke.
• The name of a company you had not thought of previously that fits your target company profile. It’s a bonus is if the company is currently looking for someone with your qualifications.
• Specific information about the industry, company, career, etc., that helps you better focus your search.

The trick is to ensure that your networking is not construed as asking for help.

Networking may seem straightforward, but the trick is to ensure that your networking is not construed as asking for help. If you go around asking everyone to help you (especially to help you get a job), you run the risk of being seen as someone who is desperate and expecting others to take responsibility for your job search.

Instead, you want to position your questions and tone in a manner that shows you are simply doing research and seeking information, not fishing for job offers. While the most direct way to get the name of someone to talk to about a job is to ask, “Whom should I talk to about securing a job?” the problem with being this straightforward is that it sounds like you are expecting this person to know who might hire you. Obviously, no one can actually get you a job and making someone feel as if it is his or her obligation or responsibility to do so will make the person feel uncomfortable.

A better approach to obtain this information is to ask, “Who is someone you really admire or respect in the profession/industry?” The answer to this question gives you a name just as the first question would, but it also gives you the ability to compliment the new contact when you explain how their name came up. Even more compelling, it gives you the name of someone who is more likely to be willing to help you since you’ve identified and praised them as an effective up-and-comer in the industry. Since you’ve told them that they are seen by their peers as powerful people, they’ll naturally want to live up to that expectation and will likely go out of their way to help you.

CareerBeam is the industry leader in Virtual Career Success Centers for colleges and universities, providing assessments, resume and cover letter development tools, search strategies and research databases and integrate them into one online portal.

Dr. Woody

Has anyone ever posted an embarrassing picture of you on their Facebook page without telling you?

There were 264 responses to this week’s Up/Down, and it was pretty even!

YES

127 (48.1%)

NO

137 (51.9%)

Nearly half of those who responded said they have had an embarrassing picture posted by a friend without knowing about it. Considering how competitive the internship market is these days, this is a scary thought! The fact is, recruiters are out there scouring the Web in search of potentially incriminating posts and pictures that may knock you out of contention. So keep these two tips in mind:

• Check Photo Tags: Regularly check for photo tagging and be sure to de-tag yourself from any photo that you don’t want posted on your page. Also, don’t hesitate to ask a friend to take down a picture you don’t like from their page. Remember, it’s not just about how you look in the photo — you must beware of guilt by association!

• Know Your Privacy Settings: This seems to be a moving target with Facebook, so make sure to keep abreast of the latest privacy changes and be sure to monitor who has access to what. I hate to say it, but no matter how secure your settings are, any photo posted on the Web can ultimately get loose into cyberspace.

As part of our ongoing conversation with exciting employers who are seeking interns and new hires, we talked to Todd Krulewich — an ’05 University of Texas grad and current group sales representative for the Minnesota Twins — about what Major League Baseball teams are looking for in future corporate talent.

Todd Krulewich

1. What do you look for when you hire an intern?

Well, I haven’t been in a position yet at this stage of my career to hire anyone. But if I were to be hiring an intern, they would have to be very hungry and eager to learn the ins and outs of the company, ready to put in long hours in order to get the job done, and always willing to lend a helping hand on any project required. When you are trying to make a name for yourself, those are the ways to do it — along with being a tremendous team player and fun to be around.

2. How did you get started in the industry? How can I get started?

After I graduated from the University of Texas, I immediately started working for the Texas Rangers. My best friend’s sister actually got me an in, and I never looked back. If it wasn’t for her helping me out, I don’t know where I would be. After two years working for the Rangers, I packed up and moved to Minneapolis to work for the Twins and it’s been great. In my opinion though, the best way to get started would be to network your tail off and try to make as many connections as possible before you get into the business. It’s not about what you know, it’s who you know. Once you get your start, then you can show off what you know.

Target Field in Minneapolis, Minn. is Major League Baseball's newest stadium, and home to the Minnesota Twins.

3. What does the future of the industry look like?

I think the future of the industry is as bright as ever. You take a look at the NBA and NFL, and they both are experiencing extremely uncertain futures, but baseball remains as healthy as ever despite a few outstanding issues that are being addressed. I think that is a testament to the people running the MLB, and they deserve a ton more gratitude than they are getting. Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, and [the ballpark is] everyone’s favorite summer getaway spot.

“Baseball is America’s favorite pastime, and [the ballpark is] everyone’s favorite summer getaway spot.”

I know for the Twins, attendance is at an all-time high, season ticket and group numbers continue to go up year after year, and we have a beautiful new ballpark that was just named the No. 1 sports experience by ESPN. With so many different elements that play into running a baseball team, there are more opportunities than ever to get a start in baseball.

4. What is one main thing an intern can do to make a favorable impression? To make a negative impression?

Always be ready to help when needed and always stay later than necessary. Don’t ever be afraid to take on too much, it’s always better to take projects on than to shy away from them and risk screwing up. If you want to make a negative impression, come in with a hotshot attitude, never volunteer for things, don’t talk to your co-workers and show up on time and leave on time. That’s just to name a few, though.

5. Can you give us a positive intern story?

The most recent positive intern story I can think of is about a co-worker of mine who was an intern for us in 2007. He started out as the ticket sales intern, left after the season, came back as a coordinator and then finally got hired on full time in 2010. It’s his positive attitude and persistence that got him the job. He’s turned out to be a very vital part of this organization and we are lucky to have him.

Diddy talks about his vision for the album during recording sessions for 'Last Train to Paris.' (Credit: MTV)

In Part I and Part II of our feature on Chicago promoter Terrell Taylor’s internship at Bad Boy Records, we heard about how Terrell found his “in” and moved to New York, his encounters with Sean “Diddy” Combs and some surprising things he learned about the music business. Today, we wrap things up.

By Alex Braun

Part of success is hard work, and part of it is being in the right place at the right time.

When Terrell Taylor got his call back to intern at Bad Boy Records, he was ecstatic enough to have one foot in the door of Diddy’s flagship business. Kevin, the assistant to the president of A&R and publishing, had gotten him in, and Terrell said his “sponge approach” started with absorbing everything Kevin had to tell him.

Terrell’s college classes and experience organizing performers in Chicago introduced him to the general concepts of how recording contracts were written, but under Kevin’s guidance, Terrell was quickly developing an advanced knowledge of the business — and people were taking notice.

Terrell Taylor

Taylor described a time when most of his office was going on a company theme park trip to Six Flag Great Adventure, and he had been invited to go. Most interns jumped at the chance to get a day off work, but knowing his time at Bad Boy was short, Terrell saw things differently.

“If I went thousands of miles to get there, I was going to learn,” he said. Terrell stayed in Manhattan that day, holding down the floor to keep Bad Boy’s publishing department open.

When opportunity struck, the right people knew Terrell Taylor could meet challenges.

A few weeks into the internship, Terrell’s boss and mentor, Kevin, decided he could be a bigger asset to Bad Boy in the long run if he took time off to study for the bar exam. Terrell’s performance so far had instilled enough confidence in Kevin and the staff of Diddy’s publishing arm that they felt he could serve as Kevin’s temporary replacement — and for his expanded role, Terrell was getting paid.

Standing in as assistant to the president also granted Terrell privileges many interns never get. One day, he was asked into Diddy’s studio during a mixing session for I Want You to Love Me — a song that never made the final cut for Diddy’s critically acclaimed 2010 album Last Train to Paris.

“[Diddy] came in and put his hand on the back of my seat and asked me ‘Yo, you feelin’ this?’”

“It was me and two of the other interns,” Terrell recalled. “Everybody was listening on their headphones, but I’m way into music, so I was bobbing my head more so than the other ones. [Diddy] came in and put his hand on the back of my seat and asked me ‘Yo, you feelin’ this?’ And I said, “Yo, this is dope.”

I asked Terrell if Diddy got to know him during his time in New York. He said he didn’t think so — Diddy interacts with a massive number of people on a daily basis, and he’s usually intensely focused, Terrell explained. But, he added, “Everytime I’d see him, it’d be like ‘I know you, but I don’t know you.’”

Terrell feels that his internship opened huge doors anyway. After the internship ended, Terrell says he was invited back, but had to stay in Chicago for family reasons. There, the things he learned at Bad Boy — coupled with the connections he made for getting getting better-known guests to appear at his “Showtime in Chicago” music events — helped him move from 500-seat community centers to 1,500-seat theaters. He even was able to start a similar event in Arizona, where he has family.

“If you don’t make an impression [during an internship], you’ll get lost in the fog.”

Those things helped Positive Entertainment — “And then also just that drive to keep working hard,” Terrell said. “We got the logo, we got the branding, but I’m a still go hard for the actual event as if nobody knows who we are.”

“One thing about an internship is they come a dime a dozen,” Terrell said, “and if you don’t make an impression, you’ll get lost in the fog.”

Like Diddy, Terrell Taylor is now focused — and his internship at Bad Boy Records gave him more clarity. “A&R is still in me,” he said. “Now I know few mainstream acts, but it’s more so about me helping the up-and-coming artists.”

Click here to view the embedded video.

Above: Terrell Taylor’s Positive Entertainment organizes a number of community events in Chicago, like this 2009 Skate Jam.

In our weekly post from the interns at San Francisco PR agency Sparkpr, Meghan Kelly takes us along for her visit to the Appnation mobile developer conference.

Meghan Kelly

By Meghan Kelly

One of my favorite aspects of being a Sparkpr intern is the ability to learn through doing. For many, actually participating in the lesson is what truly ingrains it into the brain. This past week, I helped staff the press room at Appnation, an excellent mobile app-focused conference in San Francisco.

The press room’s function was to be a recharge center for reporters. There, they could grab a boxed lunch or coffee, conduct an interview or just sit and write. I was responsible for making sure reporters were registered, had their badges and were able to find panels. There were tons of badges.

Conference badges lie across a table at Appnation.

The press room was also the venue for the Appnation press conference. In PR, we want coverage for our clients, thus we set up opportunities like press conferences to demo their products. Four or so companies did just this, and afterwards were able to chat with reporters directly – a super beneficial experience for clients. After the press conference, my Twitter feed exploded with updates about the companies I had just seen. It is pretty amazing just how quickly reporters can pump out reviews!

The most exciting part for me, however, was meeting reporters I had pitched in person. I cannot stress how important face-to-face relationships are in the PR world. It is at these events that you foster relationships, which can result in great coverage. In some cases, it results in actual friends. PR isn’t just a schmooze-fest; it’s an opportunity to be genuine and make connections in your industry.

The main floor at the Appnation conference, held April 27-28 at the Moscone Center in San Francisco, Ca.

Learning through doing has been the most excellent part of the Sparkpr experience. Interns everywhere should take up all the opportunities they are afforded and put their lessons learned into action. “Make moves,” as my friend always said — nothing game-changing comes from being idle.

Have a question about running talking to press? Want to know what it’s like to be in the middle of a press conference? Leave your questions in the comments!

Terrell Taylor, CEO of Positive Entertainment

By Alex Braun

Yesterday, I had a conversation with Terrell Taylor (@ttaylor1220), CEO of Chicago music event organizer Positive Entertainment, who also interned in the A&R department for the legendary Sean “Diddy” Combs’s Bad Boy Records in New York City.

I was pretty excited to hear how Diddy runs his businesses, but when I put down the phone, I realized there was may more to Terrell’s experiences than could be told in one blog post. So over the next couple weeks, I’ll be releasing his story in three parts.

First impressions

You could say music has shaped the lives of the Taylor family. Terrell’s name is getting pretty well-spoken in Chicago’s live music scene, but the family’s first brush with stardom — and Diddy — came years ago. After a decade singing in the South Side band Kwiet Storm, Terrell’s older brother Will found his big break when he went solo in the summer of 2007. That August, he passed auditions for MTV’s Making the Band 4, where Diddy handpicked him to be a vocalist in the R&B supergroup Day26.

“Diddy must have seen somebody more important, because he didn’t really look at me.”

Terrell was in a hallway at MTV Studios New York to support his brother on the show’s first-season finale when he spotted the hip-hip mogul for the first time. “I was walking toward him,” Terrell said, “so I went to shake his hand. Diddy must have seen somebody more important, because he didn’t really look at me … he gave me a quick handshake, but he kinda shoved me against the wall and kept walking.”

“I kinda hated him after that,” Terrell said — at least for a little while. But he wasn’t through with him.

As untouchable as Combs might seem now (Forbes recently estimated his net worth at over $475 million), the man who made legends of Mary J. Blige, Notorious B.I.G. and Lil’ Kim started out as an ambitious kid from the projects with an unparalleled work ethic — traveling constantly between marketing classes at Howard University in Washington, D.C. and an NYC internship at Uptown Records. Terrell knew Diddy was someone to model his career ambitions off of, and if he was going to start somewhere, he could do worse than learning from hip-hop’s most successful producer.

Months later in Chicago, Taylor found another “in” at a Keyshia Cole/The-Dream concert when he struck up conversation with a young woman in the crowd. “We just started talking … she said she was in New York doing a music internship for Bad Boy, even though the music industry stuff wasn’t really her thing.”

Sean "Diddy" Combs

But music was — and is — Terrell Taylor’s thing. The woman gave him a contact number in Bad Boy’s A&R department, and for two weeks, he called and sent emails relentlessly. Nothing.

And then, a week after all but giving up, Terrell got a call.

The Empire State

On the other end of the line was a Bad Boy publishing and A&R assistant named Kevin, calling to say he was impressed by Terrell’s resume. (As a music management major at Columbia College, Terrell had already started organizing increasingly successful Positive Entertainment events with artists from Chicago’s hip-hop and R&B underground.)

Kevin offered to hire him as an unpaid intern if he could get to Manhattan … in two weeks. That was a pretty crazy order, but there was no way Terrell was turning it down. In a matter of days — after borrowing enough money from supportive friends and family — he was on the ground in the Big Apple, looking at apartments with his reality-star brother.

To Be Continued …

In Part II, we get into the thick of Terrell’s experiences at Bad Boy, including a ground-up view of at Diddy’s brand empire, Terrell’s chance to move up to a paid position and more encounters with the man they called Puff. Stay tuned.