Students and Columbia residents gathered at 3:30 p.m. Tuesday in Cornell Hall to learn about “Everything Internships” from Lauren Berger, CEO of Intern Queen, Inc.

Intern Queen, Inc. is a website created by Berger in 2009 to help students find and apply for college internships. The idea came from a lack of resources available when Berger was applying for her own internships during college. Berger also provides many tips and tricks to help students make the most of their experiences.

Her presentation focused on a variety of advice as well as anecdotes from her own time in college.

Professional Development Program coordinator Rebecca Wolfe said Berger helped students find another resource and motivated them to get started. She also said it is important to hear tips from someone who is more their peer than members of the career services staff.

“It means so much more to hear from someone who is young and has just been through the internship process,” Wolfe said. “It’s just more relevant for our students.”

Wolfe said this event ties in with the now fully implemented requirement for students in the college of business to participate in at least one internship before graduation.

Berger applied for more than 100 opportunities while attending Florida State University and completed 15 internships during her four years.

“Even though you get rejected, you keep going,” Berger said in her presentation. “The good news is that we’re all going to be rejected for the rest of our lives — by girls, by guys, by employers — but it’s true what they say. When one door closes another opens, and you keep going.”

Berger has now worked with more than 800 companies.

“It’s important for me, when things are going really well, to make note of those times so that when things don’t go so well you can keep your spirits up,” Berger said. “As an entrepreneur, you can get to a place where you’ve had so many bad experiences that you don’t freak out anymore because you know you’ve been through worse.”

Wolfe said the business school was excited to host Berger and hear about her experiences.

“Her personal stories kept it really interesting but she’s also really inspiring,” freshman Kate Gallagher said. “How things fell into place for her makes me think it might fall into place for me, too.”

Berger explained how social media websites like Facebook and Twitter have brought many changes to the internship process by allowing students to connect with the companies where they want to intern. With this connection, though, comes a responsibility of students to keep their web pages appropriate to the ever-present eyes of companies and colleagues.

Berger noted in her speech the addition of what she calls “Skype” and “Starbucks” interviews as a norm in the hiring process.

“There are some new things, but at the same time, a lot of the resume, cover letter, interview advice we were hearing years ago still applies today,” Berger said.

She also addressed a few common problems she sees working with students on internships.

“I think a lot of students just apply for internships on a whim,” Berger said. “They don’t keep it organized, they don’t follow up with the employer, and then they never hear back. All companies are not sitting around thinking, ‘Where are the interns?’ all day long. Oftentimes, just that follow-up is going to land you the opportunity.”