Internships and interviews: The London Girls start their new journeys

We’re back. We hope you survived Halloweekend and are in the process of surviving both registration and election week. We know it’s rough, so hang in there.

We have also been very busy beginning work as interns in another country, which we know from our own experiences is a huge draw to the London program.

We’re hoping this can answer some questions about what this half of the program is like while also letting you enjoy us trying to answer the eternal question: Do British people actually drink tea all day in the office over coffee? (The answer…yes and no?)

Summer’s internship is at a children’s and youth non-profit called “The Winch.” Their goal is to take children from “cradle to career,” and they offer services to people through all stages of development.

Her first week was pretty chaotic due to the schools here this week being on mid-term break. Her first three days of being an intern were filled with spending most of the day with more than 70 kids. She will report back later next week when things are a bit calmer and more organized.

Kayla’s internship is at a lifestyle magazine called “The Handbook” (subscribe to the newsletter; it’s great). They cover fashion, culture, beauty, travel, food and so much more, with a signature London focus. In Kayla’s own words, it’s like “The Devil Wears Prada,” just with much nicer people and way more fun.

Her main task will be editorial and marketing work for the online publication and social media pages. This aligns with Kayla’s dream job of working in publishing, so this is a great fit so far.

There is also an office dog (her name is Bagel) and opportunities to go to cool new restaurants and other openings as part of the press, so she’s died and gone to Kayla heaven, essentially.

So, all these details aside, here is what we have learned during our first week as London interns. We hope that despite the cultural divide, some of these things can even be relevant back at home when starting new jobs or internships as well.

Number one: Master the art of small talk.

If there is one thing Londoners love, it’s a good chat about the weather. Rain or shine (which you should know by now is mostly rain), the weather is your safety topic. And tea— don’t forget tea. The British run on it like it’s the national fuel, so even if you’re a coffee person, nod along, say something like, “Love a cuppa,” and you’re golden.

Number two: Expect to be slightly confused. All the time.

On day one you’ll be bombarded with acronyms, programs and inside jokes you’re not in on yet. You’ll also hear slang that you have no clue the meaning of (for example, someone asked Summer to hoover a room after the children left. Apparently, that means vacuum.)

The trick to handling this? Smile, nod and take notes like your life depends on it. You may not understand why you’re suddenly handling programs that seem way over your head, but you’ll figure it out. Eventually.

Number three: Be ready to talk about yourself (in moderation, of course).

It’s common sense for anyone who has been in an interview setting that the question “tell us about yourself” is probably going to come up. Finding a friendly but professional way to answer this question is best when you’re trying to land a gig or make a first impression, but, in our case, it’s started to go a step farther. Fascination with Americans can run deep in our experience.

So far, we’ve talked about everything from the American school system (they were appalled by the idea of Advanced Placement courses like the ones we took in high school), what our specific college is like (in CSB+SJU’s case, they loved the idea of the Link. They really like public transportation here, we told you).

There’s also the ever present (and timely) interest in American politics, American fast food and, of course, lots of questions about the Midwest. The idea that we get slammed with snow in the winters to the point of full-school closures has been a major point of discussion.

In equal measure, we’re enjoying hearing about how the nuances of how other cultures work in terms of all these factors, so it’s a pretty good back-and-forth sharing of ideas. By the end of it we’re all feeling like locals in each other’s countries.

Number four: Don’t overthink it.

It’s 100% natural for you to be nervous about starting a new internship and feeling like you need to nail it all the time.

It’s probably going to end with you obsessing over the little things, replaying that one conversation with your boss over and over and in Kayla’s case or rewriting that article 47 times because it just won’t sound right.

While it can be important to be a detail-oriented person, it’s extremely easy to get bogged down in all the details when you’re starting out at a new job.

You want to do well, but it shouldn’t stop you from trusting your own abilities.

You’re where you are for a reason, so do the best you can and learn to fill in the gaps.

It turns out that article of Kayla’s was ready to go on version two. Sometimes trusting yourself and submitting for feedback is the best thing you can do. Don’t forget to ask for help if you need it!

Bonus tip: If you in any way find yourself relying on public transportation (or let’s be real, any kind of transportation) to get to a new job, it would probably be good to be hyper vigilant about closures and traffic and anything of the sort.

There is a tube strike that was supposed to be happening on Thursday, which seems like it’s not happening anymore…but the world was about to grind to a complete halt for us if it proceeded since it’s our lifeline here.

So, moral of the story, just stay informed about your route to work. Waking up and realizing that your commute time has doubled and you’re now on your way to being late is not a good feeling.

While it’s probably a bigger problem for us in a new internship in London than it is for you with your current campus jobs, a reasonable dose of anxiety to motivate you to be early to your commitments might be the way to go.

That’s all for us this week, and we hope you’re surviving the ever-stressful beginning of November as best as you can.