Ah, the classic internship search. I will argue that it is a full-time endeavor in itself. I can definitely attribute some of my Junior-year stress to the internship search because it takes a lot of time, commitment, and creativity to get my foot in the interviewer’s door. So why do I choose to clamor for a summer job?? Because I know it will pay off exponentially when I look for a full-time position after graduation.
I have had two internships in the past, one as a Six Sigma intern at a Caterpillar Heavy Equipment dealership, and as a Performance & Technology intern in one of the Big Four accounting firms, KPMG. Both my experiences were invaluable; they were a productive and enlightening use of my summer, no doubt. Being exposed to the warehouse and product assembly lines for Caterpillar’s excavators and massive machines made me realize that manufacturing might not be my cup of tea. On the other hand, working at KPMG gave me a glimpse of the ins and outs of the consulting industry. Now that I enjoyed! Hence another benefit of gaining experience at an internship: you get to find out early on what type of occupation, industry, or work environment makes you tick.
Both my internships were based in the capital of the Philippines: Manila. While I learned a ton about the country’s rapidly growing market (making it a hub of opportunity!), I want to challenge myself to work for a consulting firm in the US this coming summer. It will be a totally different experience compared to the Asian work place, and I’m excited to tackle it head on. So it’s time to get to work, juggling all my student responsibilities with the internship hunt. I know I’m not alone in this — I wish my fellow Trojans the best of luck with their internship search as well!!
