For New Grads Life Lessons: Everyone Deserves a Few Mulligans

Life is a series of do-overs -- mulligans -- golfers call them. That's how many of us learn. From the School of Hard Knocks with a mulligan or two for every life experience encountered.

If you have children who are within a few years of graduating from college, and they're seeking their first internship, or....if you are a student seeking your first internship, Spexy Lady is only too willing to share her pearls of wisdom. And hopefully, spare one the need for a costly "do-over."

Dozens of college grads in their first or second year out of school sat down across from my desk eager to sign on as an account exec. Many made the grade. But plenty didn't get off first base to the second interview. What separated the winners from the losers?

In the INTERN DIARIES, Spexy Lady tells all. 

Dressed fit to kill, arriving even a few minutes early, freshly printed resume in hand on Crane's quality paper, the intern candidate is called in for THE INTERVIEW. The usual pleasantries are exchanged, then it's down to business...work experience, GPA, goals, charity work, and then...just as the interview is almost over and it looks like a done deal, out of the mouth it comes.

"Would you mind if I took a week off to go to the beach with my sorority sisters, since we've had this planned for a couple of months?" Silence on the other side of the desk. Wide eyes from the well-dressed clueless across the desk.

Fughettabout it! Interview over. Next. Hundreds of resumes cross the desks of employers.

Wishing our next crop of grads a spex-tacular summer searching for the perfect first job.