The 'Intern Queen' returns: Turning 'no' into 'yes'

Heidelberg faculty and students were excited to welcome back “The Intern Queen” Lauren Berger on Friday for the final HYPE Career Ready® Day this semester. Lauren, the CEO and founder of CareerQueen.com and InternQueen.com, was the first HYPE speaker to return to Heidelberg. She offered lots of great advice based on experience for students preparing to find their dream jobs.

“Most of my advice is pretty transitional, meaning that you can apply it for internships and then also for career search,” Lauren said via her Zoom keynote. Thus, no matter a student's major, everyone “should be able to apply most of the advice given regardless of what field you’re going into.” 

Lauren first shared a life lesson that she has learned and used over the years to propel her character and business philosophy. “FIO stands for figure it out” and it’s a mindset “that has stuck with me over the years.”

“It doesn’t matter what your excuse is, it doesn’t matter what obstacle you’re running into, just go figure the problem out,” she said.

With the mentality of FIO, over the course of her college experience, Lauren was able to take part in 15 internships throughout her four years as an undergraduate

The second lesson Lauren shared was on the topic of resumes. “When you meet someone and they say, ‘Send me your resume’ or ‘Stay in touch,’ you do it that night,” she noted. Doing so builds an impression on the interviewee and you’ll stand out more than the others being interviewed.

A third lesson is that when people say no, you say yes, and you FIO and you get it done. “With every no, I really used that as an opportunity to push myself to find the yes,” she said.

The fourth point ties back into Lauren’s experience with her internships. She says that while it is a cute story for her business, it is absolutely not necessary to have 15 internships. Instead, look at the quality of the internships instead of the quantity.

Lauren also mentioned how students and businesses are responding to the current topic of COVID-19. “A lot of students have told me that they’re really worried about having gaps on their resume for 2020 or even for 2021,” she said, adding that professionals know it’s a global issue that everyone is going through, thus there is a huge notion of “compassion for the situation” students are in.

All of these lessons and tips can really help students form confidence and help them prepare for their dream job. Even in the state of crisis students have the opportunity to make connections and market themselves to future professionals to reach their dream job.

Lauren recapped on her biggest take-away, which was that if you receive a rejection, “It’s OK, but use that no to find the yes.”

story by Bailey Walter, ’23