The Intern Files: Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Interning

Jamie Fedorko's book, "The Intern Files", should be your guide to the internship world whether you currently have an internship or are planning to get one in the future. It provides all the information you need to know about searching for your internship, things you need to know while working, and what to do when your internship ends.

Fedorko uses his wisdom and sense of humor throughout the book. In the chapter on internship interviewing (co-written with Alexis Feldman), he provides sample questions that you may be asked on your interview. While you're told what the best answer is, he also shows you what NOT to say. For example, if asked a question about job experience, you should say:

"I'm good at working closely with people as well as independently. I always make deadlines and am very familiar, through my coursework and personal interests, with what you do here."

You should not tell an interviewer:

"I have to say it would be working at Dairy Queen. You know, because it was so, like, intense and high stress."

Once you land that dream internship, you need to know some basic business etiquette principles. Fedorko perfectly explains office dress codes, telling you what you need to buy for business casual basics or how to handle a dilemma of needing a suit when you can't afford one. You will also learn who to befriend in the office, what you can do when you have no work to do, and how to handle an office hook up.

All of his advice is combined with stories from real life interns about their mistakes and success stories. From the intern who accidentally called her company's president and founder "Dude" to the one who wore a full business suit at an extremely casual company, their stories will leave you feeling embarrassed, laughing, or maybe both. If nothing else, you learn what to do to avoid their mistakes if you are ever in a similar situation.

The end of the book should hopefully be an ending similar to your internship. By reading the end, you will learn how to set up an exit interview, how to form a better impression even in your last few days of work, and setting yourself up for a future job opportunity with the company you interned with. He also tells you when to ask for a letter of reference and when you can just avoid asking for one altogether.

As someone who is currently interning, I read this book before securing my internship. I prefer books with a lot of detailed information rather than books that have the good information, but are just dry. Reading the anecdotes of people who have been there and done that was a good guide for me to know what mistakes you should avoid, and what ones may still happen regardless of how much you plan a perfect internship. Fedorko gives advice clearly by using language a college student would understand and puts his own twist on the same old career advice.

Future and current interns out there may read other internship books now, but if you haven't picked up "The Intern Files", you should order it on amazon.com or head to your local bookstore as soon as possible. There are many books about post college careers, but not too many about interning. For clear cut advice from a former intern and answers you won't get from a professor, read Fedorko's book today.