Summer Internships

Maribel Aber joins Better to discuss summer internships and how to help your kids find themselves this summer, once the semester has ended.

Summer Internships Audra Lowe: It’s time to talk about your money. Summer fun is just around the corner and that means that the school day is going to com e to an end, but whether your kids like it or not it also means it’s time to start searching for that summer job or even that internship. Maribel Aber is here and she’s Better finance and career expert and she’s going to give us some advise on the internships and really how to get your kids involved and take advantage on what’s out there right Maribel? Maribel Aber: Absolutely. Audra Lowe: Glad to have you hear. I remember the first internship I had I was paranoid because you look it as a job. Maribel Aber: It is a job. Audra Lowe: Yeah. Is it still good to have an internship though given the economy, the way things are? Maribel Aver: Absolutely, I mean the economy is sort of still—we don’t want to say pits but we’re still kind of digging ourselves out there. But the internship is till the great differentiator. A lot of studies out there, I've read one from Intern Bridge Group, they're consulting and recruiting from college students. They say that internships are actually be up by about 4% and the reason for that is because a lot of companies are trying to fill that gap with cheaper sort of employment with college credit. It’s relatively cheaper in compensation than hiring attempt to pay then lower compensation. Look you're competing with job seekers who are also unemployed and you're competing with your peers, an internship is really where you want to be. Audra Lowe: Okay, but still a lot of people have to remember you don’t get as much leeway on s regular job as you do with an internship. So that’s really the time to take it all in. So what’s the best way to get started? What would be your advice on that area? Maribel Aver: Well the first thing you want to do is really leverage all the context you have. If you're still in school, talk to your faculty adviser, talk to your counselor, talk to all of those people because it’s really who you know. You hear it all the time, “how did you get that job” it’s because somebody knew somebody. So you want to leverage those context even if it’s your school organization, your athletics cups what have you. Audra Lowe: Then we also have to talk about setting yourself apart from the rest because there’s a lot more competition for internship these days than ever before and you have to have a resume. So let’s say you're in high school, are you going to have a resume, what do you do? Maribel Aver: Let me tell you, my resume in high school was like three-pages. And what was in there? Well, what are the things I look for when I'm hiring an intern is whether you're committed, whether you're hardworking and you're dedicated. Those three core things. I don’t think young people understand the value of that. It’s so important because wouldn’t you want somebody who’s got a great attitude as a helper because—I can give anybody anything to do as long as I know that they have the attitude and the work ethic to go with it. Audra Lowe: And they’re not just doing it for college credit that’s the other thing because their heart is not in it. Maribel Aver: Right. So then you list all the things that you do. All the things you’ve been able to juggle whether you're in a debate team, your grades, whether you're helping your parents manage the finances what have you, all those things. And if you got a place that you want to work at, write a little paragraph on your resume that says why you would be a great fit. Audra Lowe: Are the interns getting more competitive than they use to be? Maribel Aver: They are that’s the nature of the beast. A lot of parents have been actually getting more involved. They're working with for profit organizations to actually help their kids fix their resumes, get interviews what have you and I've actually heard parents who are bidding an auction for internships. The prize, think of ebay and then the prize being an internship. So nothing beats actually doing the work yourself because it’s all part of the process. Audra Lowe: What are the most popular internships? Are there more popular ones out there? Maribel Aver: Well the Vaults started in 1993 publishing director of internships. This year they listed something like 785 different ones and they rank them which one pays best, offers the best perks. A couple of ones they list on the top are Google, Garmens, Masonian, JP Morgan. So those sort of hit the top of the list. Audra Lowe: Always good to do a research before hand to. Good to know. Thank you very much Maribel. And if you guys have questions for Maribel, you can always email her at askmaribel@bettertv.com. We know for a fact she answers every single one of them.