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&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;You might remember James Kotecki from his video blogging days at &lt;em&gt;Politico&lt;/em&gt;, providing spry and often musical political commentary on KoteckiTV. James is now the head of research at the D.C.-based consulting firm The Cypress Group, where he also manages the internship program. He was kind enough to offer some advice on internships.&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;If the internship is the new entry-level job, what&#39;s the new internship?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; Starting your own business or organization in high school or college. It&amp;rsquo;s not essential but it looks pretty impressive on a resume. As does a crisp $100 bill.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Should interns get coffee?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; Only if they get to drink it. Honestly, it&amp;rsquo;s part of the job sometimes, but if you&amp;rsquo;re only doing grunt work and not learning anything, it&amp;rsquo;s time to look for a new internship.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Tell me your thoughts on intern cover letters.&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; Hate &#39;em. They&amp;rsquo;re often way too vague, with no indication that the applicant has even read the job description.&amp;nbsp;A well-written cover letter that clearly conveys specific reasons why the applicant wants the specific job really stands out.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Is there any common but errant advice on getting internships out there you think deserves refuting?&amp;nbsp;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; You don&amp;rsquo;t have to go through the proper channels. Use the career center and respond to job posts, but don&amp;rsquo;t be afraid to reach out to companies directly even if they aren&amp;rsquo;t officially hiring. Most people are nice and want to help you if you take the initiative to ask. And everyone else would probably suck to work for anyway.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;strong&gt;What are three Dos and Don&#39;ts for interns?&lt;br&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; Do: Keep learning. Build relationships. Keep in touch when it&#39;s over.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; Don&amp;rsquo;t: Stop learning. Burn bridges. Burn office supplies. Stop believin&#39;.&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Smart college kids can often be pretty awkward. What&amp;rsquo;s an appropriate level of social skill in an intern?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; If you can navigate a kegger while sober, you&amp;rsquo;ll survive office social life.&amp;nbsp; You&amp;rsquo;ll be ok as long as you make interesting conversations and don&amp;rsquo;t try to dance.&lt;br&gt; &amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; &lt;strong&gt;What should be in an intern&#39;s toolkit?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&lt;br&gt; Breath mints, deoderant, and a working knowledge of Microsoft Office&lt;br&gt; &lt;br&gt; &lt;strong&gt;Any final advice for interns or students looking for internships?&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; &lt;/strong&gt;&amp;nbsp;&lt;br&gt; Be proactive about landing, learning from, and (if necessary) leaving your internship. This is the 21st century! You&amp;rsquo;ve got to hustle!&amp;nbsp;Do the hustle!&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;object style=&quot;display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;&quot; width=&quot;480&quot; height=&quot;390&quot; data=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/v/gFz2WkVAk38?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0&quot; type=&quot;application/x-shockwave-flash&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;data&quot; value=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/v/gFz2WkVAk38?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowFullScreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowscriptaccess&quot; value=&quot;always&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;src&quot; value=&quot;https://www.youtube.com/v/gFz2WkVAk38?fs=1&amp;amp;hl=en_US&amp;amp;rel=0&quot;&gt;&lt;param name=&quot;allowfullscreen&quot; value=&quot;true&quot;&gt;&lt;/object&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;strong&gt;James Kotecki&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;&amp;nbsp;is the Head of Research at The Cypress Group, which analyzes political risks for investment managers. He&amp;rsquo;s also an award-winning video blogger who once interviewed Ron Paul in his dorm room. He is tweetable&amp;nbsp;@JamesKotecki.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

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