Internships / Summer Jobs / Summer Associateships

Internships, summer jobs, summer associates... there are a lot of names for what basically amounts to a 10-week interview. Here is some of our best advice.

Summer Associate Series: The Ultimate Guide to Business Lunch Etiquette

06/16/2014 by Kat

2017 Update: We still stand by the below roundup with business lunch etiquette tips for summer associates and interns — but here’s a link to our most recent discussion on dining etiquette and check out our Resources for Summer Associates page.

This week, in our Summer Associate Series*: what are some of the best business lunch etiquette tips that interns should know about — for business lunches, office cocktail parties, and more? Readers already working: what are the biggest dining etiquette tips you wish interns and SAs knew? Which are the biggest blunders you see (from both the guys and the gals)? Summer associates and interns: what are your biggest areas of confusion?

(*Name aside, we hope this series will be helpful to ANY intern, whether you’re a law student or another woman interning in a conservative office for the summer.) Check out our previous post on general summer associate style, what to wear for the creative summer associate events, and general business etiquette tips.

Here are some of the best dining etiquette questions we’ve covered in the past — readers, what have we missed?

10 things to know about a business lunch (and TONS of newer tips on business lunch etiquette in the comments here)
What NOT to order at a business lunch

Summer Associate Series: Business Etiquette for Interns (and other Newbies)

06/09/2014 by Kat

This week, in our Summer Associate Series*: what are some of the business etiquette tips that summer associates and interns should know? Etiquette can often be one of the hardest things for schools and mentors to impart — but of course it matters, and business etiquette is something we’ve talked about a LOT through the years. Readers already working: what are the biggest business etiquette tips you wish interns and SAs knew? Which are the biggest blunders you see (from both the guys and the gals)? Summer associates and interns: what are your biggest areas of confusion?

(*Name aside, we hope this series will be helpful to ANY intern, whether you’re a law student or another woman interning in a conservative office for the summer.) Check out our previous posts on general summer associate style and what to wear for the creative summer associate events. (Stay tuned next week when we specifically talk about dining etiquette.)

Here are some of the biggest internship etiquette blunders we’ve seen
how to deal if you’re paired with a “mentor” who doesn’t like you (and how to handle the chance meeting with the office VIP)
how to be humble but professional
when to use last names in a professional setting — and how to react when you’re called the wrong name
how to travel with your coworkers
whether you should take personal calls on the clock
whether headphones are appropriate at work
how private to keep your personal life (or at least your expectations of privacy)

Readers, what are some of the etiquette issues you’re seeing at your offices this summer? (Fun question: do you chalk it up to “newbies!” or “generational divide”?)

Summer Associate Events: What to Wear to the Fun-But-Wacky Office Functions

06/02/2014 by Kat

This week, in our Summer Associate Series: what should you wear to the company golf outing… the company picnic… the company pool party? There are always some creative team-building office functions (designed for interns and employees alike) that — while fun — are a minefield when it comes to dressing professionally. (If anyone doubts that these events are still going on despite the bad economy: Above the Law holds a contest for the best event of the summer!) Readers, what is the most creative summer associate event your company is holding? What was the hardest-to-dress office event you ever attended?

(Name aside, we hope this series will be helpful to ANY intern, whether you’re a law student or another woman interning in a conservative office for the summer.) Check out our previous post on general summer associate style.

Some of the best iterations of the “what to wear to the summer associate event” question that we’ve covered through the years:

the company golf outing — years before that, we also had a golfer friend advise on how to prepare for a corporate scramble if you’ve never golfed (Pictured: PUMA Golf Line Print Skirt, available at 6pm.)

Summer Associate Style: What to Wear For Your Internship

05/27/2014 by Kat

What should you wear for your internship or summer associateship? Welcome to the first installment of our Summer Associate Series! Name aside, we hope this series will be helpful to ANY intern, whether you’re a law student or another woman interning in a conservative office for the summer. First up in our series: WHAT TO WEAR? How can you build your wardrobe without going bust? What’s the best way to look professional on a budget?

What not to wear as a summer associate or intern — ladies, you may not even realize what can put you in the danger zone! Finer points of this: which skirts are too short (pictured), when girly clothes become unprofessional, which shoes not to wear, and when to show personality.
How to build a summer associate wardrobe
Pantyhose in the summer — do you really have to wear it?
How to dress professionally if you’re curvy or busty
Speaking of accessories — is it WRONG to carry a handbag worth $9,000 if you’re an intern? (If not as an intern, when can you buy a pricey bag and carry it to work?) And say: can you wear statement pieces as an intern?
Pondering how to dress professionally for summer? We’ve tackled heat waves as well as regular summer work clothes.
Makeup in the summer — how do you change it up and make it last? How different is it from interview makeup?
Building a professional wardrobe from scratch? We’ve pondered the merits of cheap women’s suits, as well as how to build a working wardrobe with $150.
Speaking of suits — please don’t try to “make” a suit out of different black fabrics! Also: here is everything you need to know about dry cleaning suits.
Lucky enough to be working abroad (and hoping to travel a lot)? We’ve covered what to pack.

Finally, you may want to check out some of our guides, which are updated regularly (unlike posts) —

Finally, that’s a lot to unpack, but you don’t have to worry about EVERYTHING: there is such a thing as overthinking what’s professional, like the person who wondered whether a water bottle could be unprofessional. Oh yes, and you may want to check out our guide to how to have a great first day on the job.

Readers, what advice would you give summer associates and other interns on what to wear, what not to wear? Readers who ARE interns or summer associates, what are the biggest areas of confusion for you? (Any posts from above that we should revisit more in depth, or give a more current take on?)
[Read more…]

Filed Under: Basics, Budget Fashion, Business Casual, Career, Fashion, Fashion Gaffes, Internships/Summer Jobs, Just Starting Out, Office Culture, Style, Summer Associate Series, Wear to Work Tagged With: interns, internships, summer associates

The Hunt: Interview Tote Bags

07/10/2013 by Kat

2017 Update: We still like these interview tote bags, but you may want to check out our most recent roundup of the best tote bags for work!

Sure, we all know what basics professional women are supposed to have in their closets, but if you’re buying one for the first time or replacing one you’ve worn into the ground, it can be a pain to find exactly the right incarnation in stores. In “The Hunt,” we search the stores for a basic item that every woman should have.

It’s been a while since we did a roundup on interview tote bags, so I thought we’d do one now (see our 2012, 2011, and 2010 roundups here). I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: in my mind the perfect interview tote has structure (that it keeps if you set it down), is a muted color like black, and doesn’t have a ton of logos or other bling on it. In terms of size, I think it should be big enough to fit a file folder as well as whatever else you would normally carry in your purse, but not so big that you could fit a beach blanket or groceries in there. In the past I’ve always preferred nylon to leather (much lighter weight) but I think readers have finally convinced me that the weight doesn’t matter that much. (What do you think, guys?) We’ve included some of the classics in previous roundups (such as the Kate Spade Maryanne line, most MZ Wallace bags, nylon Tory Burch totes, and Lo & Sons totes) so I’ll only include the newer ones in today’s roundup. Readers, what are the top qualities you look for in an interview tote? Have you made any great purchases recently? [Read more…]

Filed Under: Bags, Briefcases/Totes, Internships/Summer Jobs, Interviewing, Job Hunting, School, The Hunt Tagged With: interview tote bags, interview totes, professional tote bags, work tote bags, work totes

Business Lunch Tips for Newbies

06/24/2013 by Kat

2016 Update: Check out our latest discussion on dining etiquette for professional women.

What are your best business lunch tips for newbies? What would you say are the key rules of etiquette that women new to the corporate world need to know?

Our list of the Top 10 Things to Know About a Business Lunch” is still one of our top posts here at Corporette. I remember the day I wrote it — the blog was about a week old, and I was still figuring out content (and posting anonymously back then). Both the TPS Report and the Suit of the Week were things I added at the absolute last minute!

I had gone to a large-ish group lunch with summer associates (there were maybe 10 of us there) and while no one acted egregiously, I remembered just how hard it was for me to learn that business etiquette stuff, and how awkward it was to turn around and try to impart that knowledge to summer associates. “To the blog!” I thought.

Since then, we’ve talked a lot on Corporette about business lunches: what not to order at a business lunch, how to navigate business lunches as a summer associate, when to offer to pay and when to pick up the check if you’re dining with partners, how to handle a work lunch as the only vegetarian or as someone with a gluten-free diet, what to wear to an alumni lunch event, and what to do with those leftovers — take ’em or leave ’em?

So I’m curious, readers — what are YOUR top three business lunch tips that you wish you could teach to all the young’uns at your company or firm this summer? What other kind of tips are important from a career and professionalism standpoint that are awkward to talk about with your younger colleagues?

Pictured: Fork!, originally uploaded to Flickr by Joshua Rappeneker.

Filed Under: Business Etiquette, Food, Internships/Summer Jobs, Just Starting Out Tagged With: business lunches