It's not just an email, bruh

A random introduction

Up until quite recently my blog has been a collection of university-related tips and advice as well as things I've learned along the way. Now that I have left the academic life behind for now (two degrees obtained, booyah!), I was faced with somewhat of a conundrum. Do I use the five years of university experience to continue to write posts about all things college related? Or do I pack my blog up and take it with me on this new chapter in my life and adapt it along the way?

I have decided to go with the latter.

So, having been in the real life working world for a little over a year now, I have learned some pretty tough lessons. And if one person can learn from my mistakes, then I'm happy.

The stuff you actually care about

Something you'll need to know stuff about quite early on in the working world
is email etiquette. Email has become the most common form of communication in pretty much all fields of work, so it's best you refine your emailing abilities as quickly as possible. Here are my top tips:

• Always include a subject. Emails without a subject line are far less likely to be opened, let alone read. Try to summarise the topic of your email into a maximum of five words. 
• Always greet the person, even if you've just seen them. Just jumping right into the content of your email isn't really professional.
• Sign off properly. Ask your IT or graphic design department to create an email signature for you to include at the end of your emails. Make sure that you end the message properly using words such as 'kind regards' followed by your full name, your position and the name of the company that you work for.
• Keep it as succinct as you can. Long paragraphs are difficult to read on a screen - especially if it's a small one, you never know when someone might open your email on their phone - and the reader can get bored or distracted pretty easily. Rather use short paragraphs broken up into bite-size chunks.
• Learn how to spell. I cannot emphasise this one enough. Even the most perfect people in the world make spelling mistake, don't think you can get away without running a spell check. You can even do a brief read-over if you're sending a particularly important email.
• Use full sentences and proper punctuation. Text-speak is not appropriate at all.
• If you're anything like me, you'll tell recipients that there are things attached to an email but you don't attach the darn things! A good habit to get into is to attach the item/s to the email before you actually write it.

Surviving an internship

After having completing several interships, the most recent being a year-long paid internship at a community newspaper, I have learned some important lessons that might help you along your way.

Never be bored. Always remember you are there to learn and gain as much experience as possible. If you are bored, ask to shadow someone or sit in on a meeting. Offer to help wherever you can. Having nothing to do is extremely unproductive.

Wearing shorts is never okay. Period.

Making mistakes is normal. As an intern it is quite possible that you're entering a situation where you have very little experience. It is therefore very normal to make mistakes. In fact, the biggest lessons you'll ever learn in the workplace are through making mistakes. Own your mistakes (admit when you are wrong and take responsibility for them), this demonstrates maturity and professionalism. Mistakes are okay, as long as you learn from them.

Don't think of yourself as an intern. You are just as entitled as any other staff members to be taken seriously, treated with respect and appreciated. However, this means you are also open to just as much criticism and responsibility as any other co-worker. It also means that you will be expected to perform and meet expectations just as much as any other staff member. My advice is to not use the fact that you are an intern as an excuse to get away with something, ever.

Stand up for yourself. Coffee runs and filing is to be expected in any internship. But it is not all you are there to do. You are there to learn. You are entitled to approach your manager or mentor and express any concerns that you may have and ask to be treated in a certain way. Being an intern does not mean you are beneath anyone in your office and you should be treated as such. If you ever feel like you are being taken advantage of, speak up.

Deep end and drowning. Take it from me, having the title 'intern' means that anything and everything is going to be dumped on your desk often with tight deadlines. It may sound cliche but the best way to learn is being thrown in the deep end and learning how to swim.

Email etiquette. Email is usually the most common form of communication in the workplace and it comes with a bunch of rules that may not apply when you're popping a quick message off to your mom.

• Always include a subject. Emails without subjects are less likely to be opened.
• Always use full sentences and check your spelling. 
• Texting talk, abbreviations and replacing words with letters just will not fly.
• Make sure you sign off properly by stating your name and position.

Blog Binging

I'm super excited about this blog post, mostly because I have been threatening to write it for so long:

I love blogging, and although I most definitely don't post often enough, I am deeply immersed in the blogosphere (this is about to become a trademark, no stealing). I collect blogs like some people collect shoes and honestly, it is often the highlight of my day when one of the blogs I live announce a new post.

There is also nothing more satisfying than lying on the couch in double-chin mode binging on some gem-ofa blog's "view older posts".

I have several friends who maintain stunning blogs. And although my news feeds across my social media sites are flooded with new blog posts on a daily basis, what excites me the most is when one of my friends posts something new. It almost makes reading their blogs ten times more exciting because you know the person.

Whether it be Dale's divine splashes of creativity, Zola's refreshingly frank epiphanies or Sabu's classically classy insights, when their stuff goes live I'm brimming with excitement.

These lovely ladies inspire me on a daily basis with their superior writing and uber creative concepts. Of course there are many more friends/acquaintances whose blogs I could shed some spotlight on, but these three are top of the log for me.

There's nothing like a good cup of coffee, a fresh bran muffin and a mind-blowing blog post to get your day going!