Amina Lula is a 23 year old freelance fashion journalist and publicist. She moved to New York 4 years ago from Toronto to study abroad at Columbia University. In that time Amina landed an internship at Rachel Roy New York, working her way up, she quickly became a valuable member of the fashion brand as a Public Relations Coordinator. After two years she returned to Toronto to complete her Honors BA in English and Professional Writing & Communications along with a Certificate in Public Relations & Publicity at the University of Toronto. Amina Lula then began her freelance writing career in fashion lifestyle and women’s issues. In 2008, she formed Lula Group, a lifestyle consulting company.
Here are 5 Tips to Achieving Success at a Young Age According to Amina:
1. Work Ethic; having strong work ethic is the single most important ingredient to impressing a future employer. This is where most people fail in securing an opportunity upon completing an internship. They instantly associate an internship with free labour or degrading work such as coffee runs and not as a solid career experience. Ambition to move your way up the work hierarchy makes the experience valuable and cultivates humility and loyalty.
2. It is an Investment; every internship you do, every person you meet are all relationships that should be viewed as investments. How you cultivate these relationships are separate from how you maintain them, you must handle these relationships with care during your internship, as they will follow you into the work place. Theoretically we invest in things that will make a profit or we believe in. Invest yourself fully to your internship and you will gain a profit that can be translated into various things, such as; excelling within the same company, moving to another company through a connection or becoming an entrepreneur.
3. Do your Research; do research before joining a company and during the entire internship process. It is important that you are thoroughly aware of the company and/or individual you represent. Always remain two steps ahead of everyone else, this way you can constantly contribute ideas and opinions on how to drive company success. Every individual who does their research will have something different to contribute to their employer and can be fully recognized as a proactive part of the team. Knowledge is a powerful tool, utilize it.
“The only difference between where you are right now, and where you’ll be next year at this time, are the people you meet and the books you read”
– Unknown
{ This quote is a perfect illustration of the various ways these tips intersect to create a recipe for success; research entails plenty of reading and when you couple it with solid networking, there will be a difference between where you were last year and where you are now.}
4. Networking is key, if understood properly; While the concept/definition of networking remains the same, it is important to know that the way in which you approach it changes depending on the context. As an intern you have to be very careful about how you interact with internal and external professionals affiliated with your company. It is important that you establish loyalty prior to seeking networking opportunities. To successfully do this, you must poses a friendliness that is genuine, this will breed likability at which point, you will have made a valuable connection versus appearing as an opportunist. Once you are networking savvy you will find it a lot easier to distinguish the situations that make networking a success versus the situations that portray borderline desperation.
5. “Dress for the job you want, not for the job you have” Rachel Roy; this is a piece of advice I received from Rachel Roy when I worked for her. While it may sound simple, the value it holds if interpreted correctly is truly powerful. After grasping this advice, I translated it into my everyday life and tweaked the way I present myself. I truly believe the way you dress mirrors your career ambitions. The work force is cut throat and people will only take you as serious as you take yourself, so take the time to confront yourself about how your style of dress reflects your career goals.
What does INTERN mean?
Investment
Networking
Tenacity
Execution
Research
Never-Failing
Find Amina on Twitter – @AminaLula and check out her site at www.lulagroup.com.
YSN – Expert Advice on Career Advancement and Tools for Professional Development
