Getting More From A Summer Internship: Advice From Recruiters & Graduates:

Isabel Lagdameo

Isabel Lagdameo

Isabel Lagdameo (’15), student, New York University Stern School of Business

To me, the first step towards a rewarding summer internship was finding a role that fit my long-term career goals. As a consumer, I have always been fascinated by the beauty industry. So when I was evaluating industries to pursue for my post-MBA career, I wanted to make sure it was something I was passionate about. That was key to me, because the genuine enthusiasm for the industry and brand you work on will be evident during all interactions with your target companies, from networking to interviews to your summer internship.

When I look back on my summer experience with The Estée Lauder Companies, these three things helped me the most as I navigated my internship:

  1. Set goals: My first day of work, my manager asked me what my goals were for the summer which opened up the conversation of what was expected of me and what I was hoping to get out of my internship. This conversation continued over the summer and provided an opportunity to discuss any other areas that came during my internship that I wanted to explore further.
  1. “Yes. And?”: Don’t just deliver what is asked — go beyond what is expected of you. My internship was just as much a chance to learn about the company, as it was to receive a full-time offer, in a short 10 weeks. So I embraced every opportunity I was given to gain exposure to different areas of the company, whether it was taking on an additional project, attending an industry event, or participating in store visits. This was also an opportunity to demonstrate how my previous work experience in advertising translated to a marketing role within the beauty industry.
  1. Coffee, coffee, coffee: The coffee chats and informational meetings don’t stop once you get your internship offer. Meeting with my summer co-workers and networking beyond my own team helped me learn more about the company culture and established my reputation within the organization. A simple conversation can lead to discovering a role you are interested in or a business area you previously didn’t know about.
Kristen Williams

Kristen Williams

Kristen Williams, global head of campus recruiting, Blackstone

 Internships are beneficial for many reasons. They provide real work experience and an opportunity for an MBA to truly get to know a firm, its culture, and its people.

Essentially, an internship is a mutual interview between the intern and the firm.   It gives the MBA candidate an ability to make a well informed decision on future employment – it’s a bit of luxury of time for someone to refine career interests and aspirations.  In return, it gives a firm the opportunity to make better educated full time hiring decisions.

During an internship, it is critically important to be focused on building quality relationships within the firm with people at all levels – particularly with fellow interns who will be a large part of one’s professional network for years to come.

Throughout the internship, an intern is always being evaluated and an MBA will have multiple opportunities to demonstrate one’s skills – importantly the motivation to work hard, to go the extra mile and the willingness and ability to be a productive member of the team.

Of course a full time offer at the end of the internship is a highly desirable outcome and an offer is the result of excellent work, a demonstrated and genuine interest in the firm and the business, a fit with the firm’s culture, and one’s ability to have developed strong relationships with professional and personal advocates.

Tosan Olley

Tosan Olley

Tosan Olley (’15), student, University of Wisconsin School of Business

MBA candidates can maximize their internship experience by getting into an exploratory mindset. One can leverage the experience by owning the title of “intern.” What I mean by that is to use your status as an intern as a vehicle to build networks through a series of informational interviews with decision- makers throughout the organization.

In each interview, make sure you ask what they do and what they enjoy about their jobs. It gives them an opportunity to talk about themselves, but gives them the opportunity to speak to you about a topic that isn’t assignment specific.

It allows them a view of another part of you and grants you a chance to showcase your skillset in front of cross functional leaders in the organization. You will not only come across as a highly intellectually curious person, but a person who is looking to see where and how they fit within an organization. So, in addition to doing stellar work, it is imperative that you get face time with as many decision makers as possible.

The more you know about how your assignments fit within the overall organization and how different parts of the organization work to make a whole, more likely you are to build networks, possibly enhance job prospects both inside and outside the division and have a more enriched experience overall.

I approached my internship at YUM Brands with this mindset and made it a goal to communicate my desire to learn not only about the business side but, more importantly, the essence of the organization at large. I was able to build great relationships across the breadth and depth of the organization, and explore opportunities in multiple divisions which resulted in a great offer as the Assistant Finance Manager, Strategic Planning for Pizza Hut Global.

(Go to next page for advice from McKinsey and A.T. Kearney)

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