"Rich Dad Poor Dad" by Robert Kiyosaki
- Book: “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
- For: People in high school & college, and people who want to be financially independent
- Lesson: Learn how to invest your money properly, what rich parents teach their kids, and common obstacles stopping people from financial success
Summary:
“Rich Dad Poor Dad” was written by Robert Kiyosaki–an investor, entrepreneur, and educator who is often called the millionaire school teacher. Kiyosaki aims to teach readers how to be financially literate, a skill that is often taught only by rich parents to their soon to be rich children.
While growing up, Kiyosaki had two dads, one was his biological father, and the other was his best friend’s father. The author’s real father worked for the government and had a Ph.D. However, although this dad was well-educated, he often struggled with money and paying the bills.
On the other hand, Kiyosaki’s second father had an eighth-grade education but went on to become one of the richest men in Hawaii. Kiyosaki talks about money lessons he learned from both of his fathers and teaches readers the secret to becoming financially independent and successful.
Robert Kiyosaki, author of the bestselling book “Rich Dad, Poor Dad.” Kiyosaki has authored more than 15 books to date.
Lessons:
1) The RicH Buy Assets, The Poor Buy Liabilities
“You must know the difference between an asset and a liability, and buy assets. If you want to be rich, this is all you need to know. It is Rule No. 1. It is the only rule. This may sound absurdly simple, but most people have no idea how profound this rule is. Most people struggle financially because they do not know the difference between an asset and liability. ”
The main difference between an asset and liability is that an asset makes money, while a liability loses money.
The rule sounds simple, yet many people, especially the middle and poor class, confuse the two groups.
Here’s what Kiyosaki’s rich dad considers to be an asset:
- Businesses that require little oversight
- Stocks
- Bonds
- Mutual funds
- Income-generating real estate
- Notes (IOUs)
- Royalties from intellectual property such as music, scripts, patents
- And anything that has value, produces income or appreciates and has a ready market
All assets have one thing in common, they will make you more money. That is why you want to own assets.
Liabilities, on the other hand, drain money from your pockets.
Liabilities can be anything from home mortgages, consumer loans, credit cards, or a new car, furniture or appliance when the old one works fine.
Take a new car for example. Many people believe a car is an investment, but this is only true in rare cases, such as if it is a collectible or limited edition.
With a regular car, as soon as you drive off the dealer's lot, it automatically decreases in value. Then there’s car insurance, license plates, and registration costs. There’s also fuel costs and yearly check-ups. Also, the more a person drives a car, the more it decreases in value. A car bought for $20,000 may end costing $30,000 or more after five years of insurance payments, fuel costs, and other related expenses.
However, if the person took that same $20,000 and put it into the stock market and earned 10% each year, they would now have over $30,000 in their account. See the difference? One person lost $30K while the other made $30K.
2) Overcome the fear of losing money
“Once people have studied and become financially literate, they may still face roadblocks to becoming financially independent. There are five main reasons why financially literate people may still not develop abundant asset columns. Asset columns that could produce large sums of cash flow. Asset columns that could free them to live the life they dream of, instead of working full time just to pay bills.”
The fear of losing money is one of the first obstacles that must be overcome. Kiyosaki writes that he has never met a rich person who has never lost money. He goes on to say that everyone is afraid of losing money, even the rich. The difference is how one handles losing money.
One of the best ways to handle this fear is to start investing early and see losing money as a teaching tool. Anyone who rides a bike will fall down many times and anyone who plays golf will lose at least a couple of golf balls, all of these moments are opportunities to learn from mistakes.
Losing money and failing is part of the journey to becoming better. Failure decreases fears and can increase a person’s desire to win.
In his book, Kiyosaki goes on to talk about the other four obstacles to success, including cynicism, laziness, bad habits, and arrogance.
3) Education Is The Best Investment
“Just because you have no money, it should not be an excuse to not learn. But that is a choice we all make daily, the choice of what we do with our time, our money and what we put in our heads. That is the power of choice. All of us have a choice. I just choose to be rich, and I make that choice every day.”
Before making investments in assets, the first investment should be in education. Kiyosaki says that the mind is the only real asset people have, and the most powerful tool in our domain.
Everyday people have the choice of whether to watch TV, play video games, or read a book. “90 percent of the population buys TV sets and only about 10 percent buy books on business or tapes on investments,” says Kiyosaki.
There are multiple ways people can invest in education.
To start, you can buy books. If books are expensive, buy a used copy or go to a library. If you’re more of an audio person, can also listen to audio-books (here's a link to a free audio book).
There are also tons of videos on YouTube that are educational and free watch to watch. One of the author's favorite ways to learn is by attending in-person seminars that take a deep dive into the subject.
To be successful, people must be humble enough to realize that they don’t know everything and that they should read and learn from what others have to say. Intelligent people welcome new ideas and one of the best ways to learn is by listening instead of talking.
Conclusion:
At first, I wasn’t sure if this book was worth reading because it sounded like a get-quick-rich type of book. However, since it was a #1 NYT bestseller, I figured I’d check it out.
Surprisingly, the book has a lot of solid information on money skills and how to manage one’s finances.
This is a great book for people in high school and college since educational institutions don’t focus on teaching money skills. Also, recommend it to people who have trouble with their finances and have never made any investments before.
The author also provides readers will additional tools and information at their website here.
Rating: 4/5 stars
If you’re interested in reading the book, click here or on the image below!
- Book: “Rich Dad Poor Dad” by Robert Kiyosaki
- Pages: 207
- For: People in high school & college, and people who want to be financially independent
- Lesson: Learn how to invest your money properly, what rich people teach their kids, and common obstacles stopping people from financial success
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5 Lessons From "What Every BODY Is Saying"
Have you ever been in a social situation where you wished you had telepathic powers and could read the other person’s mind? Although the ability to read minds is impossible, we can do the second-best thing, read body language.
Have you ever been in a situation where you wished you had telepathic powers and could read the other person’s mind? I’m sure everyone can relate. Perhaps this happened to you at a job interview, or on a first date. We all wish we knew how the person across from us really felt at that time. Although the ability to read minds is impossible, we can do the second-best thing, read body language.
Having spent 25 years as an FBI counterintelligence special agent and supervisor specializing in nonverbal communications, Joe Navarro provides an insightful book on how to read body language.
Here is some advice from Navarro’s book “What Every Body Is Saying.”
1) Establish Baseline Behavior
One of the first lessons that Joe teaches is to establish a baseline behavior of the person you’re observing. This is important because if you don’t have a baseline, it becomes quite easy to misinterpret the person's body language.
Imagine you’re having a conversation with a close friend and you ask him about his relationship with his spouse, he reacts by rubbing his eyes. This signal can mean several different things. It’s possible he’s having problems in his relationship, or perhaps your friend has allergies, or maybe his eyes are tired from spending all day looking at a computer screen.
If the friend has been rubbing their eyes and sneezing, it's safe to assume that he has allergies. If he's been rubbing his eyes the whole conversation, it's possible he is tired from work.
“Even in a single encounter with someone, you should attempt to note his or her “starting position” at the beginning of your interaction. Establishing a person’s baseline is critical because it allows you to determine when he or she deviates from it, which can be very important and informative.”
2) Look at The Distance
One nonverbal cue that is easy to read, is the distance between two individuals. In almost all scenarios, the closer two individuals are to each other, the more comfortable they are with one another.
When you’re talking and walking with your best friend, you’ll often notice that you rub shoulders or bump into each other now and then.
However, when two people aren’t fond of each other, they will keep their distance from the person.
This applies also to strangers. Look at how people sit on a public train or bus; two strangers are going to lean away from each other, while two friends usually lean towards one another.
People may also lean away from each other when they disagree while discussing business.
3) Focus on The Legs
Most people assume that the face is most likely to reveal a person’s true intentions and that this the prime place to look for nonverbal signals that reflect what the person is thinking. However, that is incorrect. The feet, along with the legs, is the most honest body part.
Since childhood, all of us have learned to lie with our words and our faces. When we see a relative we don’t like at an annual family gathering, we smile and tell them that it’s nice to see him or her, even though we despise them.
The same goes for poker matches. People learn to hide their facial expressions and talk in a neutral tone.
However, people rarely remember to hide their nonverbal behavior involving their feet and legs.
When an individual is wiggling and bouncing their feet and legs this is described as happy feet. This is a high-confidence tell that signals that a person is in an advantageous position or is getting what he wants.
Feet can also indicate a negative emotion since we tend to turn away from things that we don’t like or disagree with.
Feet can also tell us when it’s time to leave. If you’re having a conversation with someone and the person starts to turn one foot away or pointing it towards the door, it is a sign that the person wants to leave.
4) Signs of Dominance
In most cases, people who want to demonstrate dominance do so by spreading out and claiming territory. This can include spreading one’s arms apart on a surface or having your arm spread out on a chair.
Poses of dominance usually leave the individual open and not covering vital organs including the heart and genitals.
5) Facial Expressions
The face has the ability to display a variety of feelings, both positive and negative, and even fake emotions.
When someone hears something they don’t like or are angry, they will often squint their eyes. The more negative the news or event, the tighter one’s eyes compress.
When a person hears information they don’t believe, they may “roll their eyes” or move their eyes to the corner.
On the flip side, when a person is excited or filled with positive emotions, their eyes open up completely and look directly at the other person while smiling.
Navarro points out that a real smile forces the corners of the mouth up toward the eyes, while a fake smile moves the corners of the mouth toward the ears.
Body language is a fascinating form of communication that not many people are able to read. However, to completely understand what each body is saying, one must observe individuals and practice often.
Joe Navarro’s book is incredibly insightful and complete with images to help you better understand nonverbal cues. To learn more get the book by clicking the link below!
How To Succeed In Your Internship
I’d like to say thank you to everyone who read my first article “How to get an Internship,” several people told me they found it insightful and helpful. I hope it helps other college students find an internship. If you did land an internship, now you need to succeed in your new position so you can get your professional career rolling!
I’d like to say thank you to everyone who read my first article “How to get an Internship,” several people told me they found it insightful and helpful. I hope it helps other college students find an internship. If you did land an internship, now you need to succeed in your new position so you can get your professional career rolling!
If you haven't read the first article, click here to view it.
Beginning of the Internship
So, you accepted the internship offer, signed the paperwork and you start this Monday, awesome! But, then a bit of anxiety and nervousness kicks in because you realize you’ll be in a new company filled with new people and you'll have a lot of responsibilities to manage.
Don’t stress out, it’s okay to be nervous. Below are some tips and to help you prepare for your internship and soon your anxiety and nervousness will turn into eagerness and excitement!
The night before your first day, set two alarm clocks and get a solid 7-8 hours of sleep. Dress the same way you did to your in-person interview (if you didn’t have an in-person interview, dress on the more conservative side– you can always take your tie or jacket off when you arrive) and eat a healthy breakfast. It’s always good to pack lunch and remember to bring a notebook and a pen or pencil.
Aim to get to your job 15-20 minutes early, you’ll usually have to spend some time with security checking in and getting your work ID. Afterwards, you usually spend some time with HR filling out paperwork and then with IT to set up your computer.
Sending time with security getting my badge ID and printing pass.
Your first day will be spent exploring the company and being introduced to employees. Remember to smile, give a firm handshake, and introduce yourself. Carry a notebook and pen everywhere you go so you can write down everyone’s name and position.
Carry a notebook everywhere you go so you can always jot down notes.
Your supervisor will likely treat you to lunch your first day so jot down any question you have about the company or internship in your notebook beforehand. For lunch, avoid getting messy foods like spaghetti, ribs, or wings. Also, don’t chew with your mouth open or talk with your mouth fill.
During the first few days, you’ll spend time meeting with members of your team to learn new work skills. This could be anything from learning AutoCAD to Photoshop to SAP. Pay attention and take notes, also this is the time to ask questions. Asking questions about how to use Photoshop the first week is better than asking two months into the internship.
To learn more about the company’s mission and history, I’d recommend reading books or articles written by your company’s founder or CEO.
Books by Discovery's founder and SAP's CEO.
Mid-way through the Internship
Since you’ve been carrying your notebook everywhere and taking notes, you should feel comfortable in your position. At this point, feel free to ask your supervisor if they need help on any projects or new assignments. The goal of your internship should be to learn as much as possible, not breeze through it.
Halfway through your internship, you’ll likely have a meeting with your supervisor (if not, ask if you can set one up) to discuss your performance, projects and progress on the goals of the internship.
Whenever you receive feedback or criticism, don’t take it negatively. Performance reviews help you identify areas of improvement you may or may not be aware of; improve on these areas and you’ll become a more qualified and skilled individual.
Throughout your internship, if you receive emails from HR about intern network events, try to attend as many as possible. It’s a great way to meet new people, make friends and learn about different departments and positions from interns working in various positions in the company.
Intern events at Discovery were always fun.
The End of the Internship
Although you may be nearing the end of your internship, there is still plenty of work to be done both literally and figuratively.
For starters, don’t start coming in late or slacking on assignments. You want to finish strong and leave the company on a positive note.
If you’re interested in other roles or departments within the company, ask your supervisor if they can introduce you to other employees. After the introduction, it’s up to you to email them and ask for 15 minutes of their time to discuss their position.
At Penguin Random House, I said I was interested in the different areas of marketing and my supervisor introduced me to four different individuals within the company. It was a great networking and learning experience!
Towards your last week, you’ll most likely meet with your supervisor for a final review of the internship. Again, view all criticism and feedback in a positive light. You’ll also be asked to give feedback on what the company did or didn’t do well. If you’re looking for a full-time position with the company, this is the time to discuss it with your boss.
On your last day return all company equipment and make sure you don’t leave any personal belongings in the office. If possible, thank all the employees that taught and guided you during your internship.
It’s also nice to write a thank you email to your team. It doesn't have to be multiple paragraphs. Keep it short and sweet. Also, add your personal contact information in case anyone needs to get in-touch with you.
Image taken from Careerbright.com.
The last day is always bittersweet, but remember, as one door closes, a new one opens!
I hope this article helps you succeed in your internship. For more advice, I’d recommend reading the book They Don’t Teach Corporate In College by Alexandra Levit. Click here to view the book.
P.S. If any of my co-workers or supervisors are reading this, thank you for believing in me and taking me on as your intern!
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5 Lessons from "Ego Is The Enemy"
Early in our careers, ego impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back. In his WSJ bestseller book, Ryan Holiday gives advice on how people can combat their ego to achieve more in life.
Ryan Holiday, the author of Ego Is The Enemy, has written several books on topics ranging from business to philosophy. His latest book is a combination of the two subjects.
In his book, Holiday writes that early in our careers, ego impedes learning and the cultivation of talent. With success, it can blind us to our faults and sow future problems. In failure, it magnifies each blow and makes recovery more difficult. At every stage, ego holds us back. In this WSJ bestseller book, Holiday gives advice on how people can combat their ego to achieve more in life.
Here are 5 important lessons from Ego Is The Enemy:
1) Plus, Minus and Equal
Holiday writes about a multi-title mixed martial arts champion named Frank Shamrock, who uses a system called plus, minus and equal to train his fighters.
“Each fighter, to become great...needs to have someone better that they can learn from, someone lesser who they can teach, and someone equal that they can challenge themselves against” (Pg 39).
By training against someone who is better than us, it purges the ego from thinking we are the best. By training against someone lesser than us, it humbles the ego to think of ourselves as teachers. And by training against someone of equal skill, it reminds us to stay competitive and not become complacent.
The plus, minus, and equal principle can be applied to any field. If you’re a manager, seek out a mentor, train an intern and collaborate with co-workers. If you play varsity soccer, learn from the best player on the team, help train the worst player, and compete with all other teammates during practice.
2) Forever a Student
It is easy to be a student before one becomes successful and great. The real challenge is staying a student even after achieving greatness.
“A student is self-critical and self-motivated, always trying to improve his understanding so that he can move onto the next topic, the next challenge” (Pg 41).
A student must be able to take harsh and critical feedback to learn where they can improve. The ego, however, avoids such feedback at all costs. This stops us from improving by convincing us that we don’t need to improve. Then, when we don’t get the results we were expecting, we wonder what happened.
Today, books are available in stores and online. Ivy league college courses can be found online. Smartphones give us 24/7 access to the internet. There is more information than ever before. One must remain a student throughout their lives to achieve true success.
3) Stay on Course
According to the philosopher Seneca, the Greek word euthymia, is the sense of our own path and staying on it without getting distracted by all the others that intersect it.
“It’s about being what you are, and being as good as possible at it, without succumbing to all the things that draw you away from it” (Pg 117).
Ego is constantly telling people they can have it all. It rejects trade-offs. One must remember what is important and ignore the other paths. Do not get distracted by those around you. Find out what matters and what doesn’t. Only then can a person say no to all other paths and concentrate on staying on course.
Author Ryan Holiday
4) Do your Best, Forget the Rest
Life is not a fairy-tale. The path to success will have ups and downs, victories and failures, happiness and disappointment. However, it is important to focus on the effort and not the outcome.
“We have only minimal control over the rewards for our work and effort–other people’s validation, recognition, rewards. So what are we going to do? Not be kind, not work hard, not produce, because there is a chance it wouldn’t be reciprocated? C’mon” (Pg 178).
Do not attach your ego to rewards and accolades. We can’t let that be what motivates us. There will be failures and disappointments in life. How then, do we carry on?
John Wooden, the famous basketball coach gives us the answer, “Success is peace of mind…knowing you made the effort to do your best to become the best that you are capable of becoming” (Pg 180). Do your best and forget the rest.
5) Always Love
On the path to success, one will encounter individuals who may deceive, offend, or hurt you. This causes us to become angry and seek retribution. However, this is short-term thinking from the ego.
“Hate at any point is a cancer that gnaws away at the very vital center of your life and your existence. It is like eroding acid that eats away the best and the objective center of your life” (Pg 204).
It is easy to hate. It is our ego attempting to seek payback. However, this is a distraction. If we’re busy getting revenge, we aren’t focusing on our course and our work. Hate doesn’t get us to our goal, and can even set us back.
Instead, one must always love. Love is egoless. It is positive, peaceful and productive. Hate focuses on the past while love focuses on the present and most importantly, the future. Stay positive, stay focused and always show love.
Hopefully, these five lessons help you defeat your ego and reach new levels of success.
If you’re interested in learning more, click here for a link to the book.
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10 Management Lessons from "The Effective Executive"
Peter Drucker is the often called the "founder of modern management" and for good reason. He wrote over 35 books, contributed frequently to the WSJ and Harvard Business Review, and worked as a consultant for Fortune 500 CEO's and Heads of States. Here are 10 managements lessons from The Effective Executive.
Published in 1967, Peter Drucker’s book The Effective Executive still holds many management lessons that can be applied today, 50 years later.
Here are 10 tips to help you become The Effective Executive.
1. Effectiveness Is a Skill
“I have not come across a single “natural”: an executive who was born effective. All the effective ones have had to learn to be effective. And all of them then had to practice effectiveness until it became habit” (Preface pg 1).
From the first page, Drucker lets the reader know that effectiveness is a skill. It is not an innate ability; effectiveness can be learned if a person dedicates their time and energy to practice it.
2. Do What Needs to Be Done
“The first practice is to ask what needs to be done. Note that the question is not “What do I want to do?” Asking what has to be done and taking the question seriously, is crucial for managerial success” (Introduction pg XII).
It’s great to get a lot of things done at work but it’s more important to get the right things done. Sometimes the most important thing isn’t the most exciting or pleasant project. However, the effective executive identifies what needs to be done and gets to work on the task.
3. Ask What Must Be Done Now
“However, after completing the original top-priority task, the executive resets priorities rather than moving on to number two from the original list. He asks, “What must be done now?”” (Introduction pg XIII).
After completing the first project that needs to be done, it is important to look at your list of things to-do and asks yourself, if anything has changed. Perhaps the second most important thing is being handled by another employee or maybe there is a new major issue that needs to be taken care of right away. Identify what needs to be done, and ask what needs to be done now.
4. Focus on Opportunities
“Problem solving, however necessary, does not produce results. It prevents damage. Exploiting opportunities produces results” (Pg XVIII).
A good executive should focus on opportunities rather than problems. Problems, of course, must be taken care of, but it does not move the company or organization forward. Rather, it prevents it from moving backward. Unless there is a true catastrophe, the effective executive focuses on exploiting opportunities.
5. Know Thy Time
“If we rely on our memory, therefore, we do not know how time has been spent.[…] The effective executive therefore knows that to manage his time, he first has to know where it actually goes” (Pg 27).
The supply of time is totally inelastic. It can neither be stored nor bought. A manager once told me, “Time is our most precious resource, in fact, you can say it is our only resource.” A person must first record time before one can know where it goes and how to better manage it. The effective executive knows this and keeps a journal to record how they spend their time.
The Michael Jordan of Management, Peter Drucker.
6. Identify and Eliminate
“One has to find the nonproductive, time-wasting activities and get rid of them if one possibly can” (Pg 36).
Look at your time journal and identify where time is being wasted and on what tasks. Then, either eliminate. If you don’t have the time to finish homework every week but you find time to watch TV for two hours a day, cut out watching TV. Other time-wasting activities can include checking your phone or email every five minutes or constantly checking social media. If the things you’re doing aren’t contributing to accomplishing the tasks on your list, eliminate it.
7. Change and Adapt
“The most common cause of executive failure is inability or unwillingness to change with the demands of a new position” (Pg 58).
A person who has been successful in one role but then keeps doing what they have done before they moved into a new role, is almost certain to fail. Things are constantly changing. Whether it’s a change in a job position, a company or an industry. Change is the only constant. One must be willing to adapt and try to methods to find success.
8. Have Effective Meetings
“Effective executives know what they expect to get out of a meeting” (Pg 69).
Before putting together, a meeting, report or presentation ask what the purpose of it is. Is there a decision that needs to be made, or perhaps a project needs to be outlined? Insist that the meeting has a purpose before the meeting is called and at the end of the meeting identify is the purpose has been achieved or if further steps are needed.
9. Concentration is Key
“If there is any one “secret” of effectiveness, it is concentration. Effective executives do first things first and they do one thing at a time” (Pg 100).
The most important tasks are usually large and long projects that require a long stretch of time. It is easy to get distracted with small quick tasks that make one feel busy but in fact accomplishes very little. The effective executive has self-discipline and says “No” to unrelated activities. One must concentrate and stay focused on the task at hand.
10. Understand Then Decide
“The executive who wants to make the right decision forces himself to see opposition as his means to think through the alternatives” (Pg 155).
No matter how certain one is of the other person being wrong, the effective executive takes time to understand the opposite opinion. This is a way of making sure all major aspects of an important matter have been assessed before a decision has been made.
Hopefully, these 10 lessons help you become a more effective executive.
If you're interested in learning more, click here for a link to the book.
How To Get An Internship
An internships is a great way to gain professional experience and learn about an industry or company you're interesting in working. Internships allow for networking, skill building and possible full-time job offers. Now, let's get you an internship!
HOW DO I GET AN INTERNSHIP?
This is a question I’ve been asked quite a few times by family members and friends. So, I figured it’s worth writing a blog post to give some tips and advice.
But Alex who are you to give advice?
Good question. I’ve been fortunate to have interned at Fortune 500 companies such as SAP and Discovery Communications. I’ve also interned at Penguin Random House and Citrin Cooperman.
Internships are great for gaining first-hand experience in a career or industry you’re interested in. It is a short-term commitment that allows you to get your foot in the door and learn from experienced professionals.
Celebrating Shark Week at Discovery Communications.
Now let’s help you get that internship.
First off, you need to find an industry or business field that you’re interested in. It could be communications, programming, marketing, etc. Then, go to job sites such as LinkedIn, Glassdoor and even your college job board page. Check out their job postings and make sure to sign up for new job posts as well (ex. Glassdoor emails me a daily list of 30 internships that might be of interest to me).
If you’ve never had an internship before I'd highly recommend interning at a non-profit organization. You’re most likely going to be an unpaid intern for your first internship so why not help a charity. It looks great on your resume and feels good to help others.
Found an internship that peaks your interest? Great! Now proofread your resume, cross your fingers and hit send.
Remember, companies are getting hundreds of applications so it’s important to apply to multiple positions and not put all your eggs in one basket (On my college job board alone, I’ve sent 118 applications).
This image is from my College job board profile.
And now we wait...
Some companies will reply the next day while others may reply two months later. If you get a response, the first interview will most likely be a 10-30 minute phone interview with HR.
The most important thing to do before an interview is to research the company. Read their mission statement and company values. Find out why the company was created, who was the founder and who is the CEO.
But don't stop there, check out the company's product or services. Look through their social media pages to get a feel for company culture. Also, remember to check the LinkedIn profile of everyone that will be a part of the interview.
Go to GlassDoor to learn about the company's culture and review interviews from other people that applied to the same company.
During the phone interview, have your resume in front of you along with the company's job application. Have a pen and paper to jot down notes. Be professional and polite. Ask questions at the end of the interview.
Glassdoor is your best friend when it comes to getting an internship. It has job postings, questions asked during interviews and reviews of the company!
Remember to send a Thank-You Note within 24 hours of your interview. This applies to both virtual and physical interviews!
Hopefully things went well and you're invited for an in-person interview. Once again, research the company's department that you're applying for and the person that will be interviewing you.
Now, follow every cliché you've ever heard:
- Wake up early and eat a healthy breakfast.
- Bring copies of your resume.
- Assume there will be delays in your commute and aim to walk in 15 minutes before the interview start time.
- Dress appropriately and make sure your clothes are clean and ironed.
- Turn off your cell phone and don't chew gum.
- Smile, say hello and give a firm handshake.
- If they offer a drink, just ask for water (It's a job interview, not Starbucks)
- At the end of the interview thank the person for their time and shake their hand.
-Write a Thank-You email for each person that spent time interviewing you.
After a couple of days, you should get an email from HR asking to set up a time to talk. HR will discuss the salary and other information regarding the position and if you accept, they will email you an official offer.
Congratulations! All your hard work paid off and you landed the internship!
If for some reason you didn't get the job offer, don't stress out. Reflect on the interview process and ask yourself what you did well and what you could've done better. View it as a positive experience because even though you didn't get the position, it was good practice and will make you better prepared for your next interview.
Written by Alex Wiec.
For more job advice, I'd highly recommend getting the book:
What Color Is Your Parachute? 2017: A Practical Manual for Job-Hunters and Career-Changers
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