Favorites
Facebook
Twitter
Digg
Del.icio.us
Technorati
Reddit
Newsvine
StumbleUpon
MySpaceInternship Testimonials
Matthew White
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas Major: Accounting
Classification: Sophomore
Internship: Tesoro, San Antonio, Texas
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I received an email from St. Mary's Career Services Center about an internship posting at Tesoro, Unfortunately, I was not hired for that job, but I spoke with the Director of the internship program at Tesoro, Shelly Underwood, a former Career Services employee, and she informed me of an opening in the Credit Department.
Describe your internship experience: I assisted the Credit Department at Tesoro. On a typical day, I contracted customers to retrieve financial information on their company. Upon receiving the financial data, I recorded various statistics from the financial statements. I then analyzed the data and wrote a credit review on the customer. In some cases, I assisted the credit managers in establishing credit limits for various customers.
I was also assigned various ad-hoc projects. The greatest contribution I made to the department involved the development of a customer list that would aid in the collection and review process. The customer list included all active and inactive customers and linked corporate relationships amongst customers. I implemented SAP and Excel to create the list of over 4,000 accounts.
Lorna Cruz
Hometown: San Pedro Sula, Honduras Major: Marketing
Classification: Senior
Internship: Catholic News Agency, Denver, Colorado
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I learned about Catholic News Agency (CNA) through a friend-he knows the editor-in-chief and suggested I look into them for a summer internship, since I used to be the commentary editor for The Rattler newspaper on campus and enjoy writing in general. I contacted the editor-in-chief and assistant editor about a possible summer internship, and they accepted me as one of their two summer interns.
Describe your internship experience: At CNA, I wrote news articles that required research and interviews. These articles were published on the CNA website as well as the EWTN News website. I also helped increase the agency's social media presence on Facebook and Twitter by managing the updates and tweets, providing our audience with more resources that are available on the website.
One of the big projects that I helped develop is the website's young adult section. I approached the editor-in-chief about the possibility and he liked the idea, so I am now helping them plan and execute the section launch. I am contacting writers and will be in charge of managing the section for about a year.
Another one of the great opportunities I had was to be a correspondent for CNA during World Youth Day 2011 in Spain. World Youth Day is an event in which a large gathering of Catholic youth meet with the Pope. This year, an estimated 2 million people attended. I wrote articles, took pictures and recorded videos to provide a unique perspective on the event, with personal and unique stories from those attending.
How will this internship influence your future plans? My internship helped me broaden my horizons and learn about life in Colorado, which is now a place I would really like to live. I also had the great opportunity of going to Europe for the first time and learning about the European culture and interact with people from literally all over the world. My internship also helped me establish a good network of connections that will hopefully be useful as I look for a job after graduation.
What advice do you have for other students seeking an internship? My advice would be to pay attention to the Career Services emails and postings because the companies they work with have a specific interest in St. Mary's students and are willing to accept them. Also, ask around for companies that your (older) classmates have interned with and of any internships that your professors know of.
Hayden Edwards
Hometown: Houston, Texas Major:Corporate Financial Management/ Risk Management
Classification: Junior
Internship: Standard and Poor's, New York, New York
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I was introduced to the opportunity through Dean Singh and I applied for the program in Mid-Spring. After visiting New York in April and visiting with my supervisor, I became more interested in pursuing the internship and accepted the position.
Describe your internship experience: I worked with our global clients through providing them the data they requested from our Global and Strategy Indices (which my boss was responsible for). I also submitted reports to new agencies in the Middle East over the S&P Shariah Indices (Islamic compliant indices). I collaborated with other offices in regards to our global risk controlled indices and Dynamic Asset Exchange index projects.
How will this internship influence your future plans? This internship has influenced my plans for the future by interesting me in companies or jobs that will be internationally focused, because I found during my experience at S&P, that I loved looking at and researching the various international market factors that can affect the global economy as well as a company's individual performance in a specific region in the world.
Victoria Reyes
Hometown: Corpus Christi, Texas Major: Information Systems Management
Classification: Senior
Internship: Teach for America, New York City
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I learned about Sponsors for Educational Opportunities from Francisco Ramirez-Gaston, a recent St. Mary’s University Graduate. He came to my class and spoke about his experience interning at UBS through SEO. I then attended a recruitment session on campus and decided to apply for the nonprofit program.
Describe your research experience: My summer internship experience at Teach for America was nothing short of amazing. I worked in Information Technology on the User Support Technologies (UST) team providing support to users and all of their technological needs. During the course of the summer, I was responsible for making sure that on the first day of work, each new hire would have all the technology they needed to do their job. A general technology package includes one or more of the following items: laptop, blackberry, aircard and mouse.
I started the summer scanning blackberry and aircard MEID numbers into a spreadsheet and then organizing them on shelves in our storage closet. I quickly discovered that organization is key to managing inventory. So I began to create unique ways to help my team stay organized—starting with drawing pink hearts on each catalogued blackberry and aircard. Shipments of brand new laptops would arrive on a regular basis and I was tasked with the unboxing them and updating our master inventory spreadsheet. I would then line the laptops up on our shared workstation and configure them with standard Teach for America software. Next I would take each individual computer and make them customized for each specific user. I would then assemble technology packages and have them shipped to the user.
I was often invited to attend special events that were specifically for interns. These meetings were generally with company executives who wanted to share their experiences and knowledge with us. A notable event was having lunch with Wendy Kopp, our CEO. I also met Josh Griggs, our Chief Administrative Officer, by chance one evening at a corner store. I introduced myself and for the rest of the summer he served as a mentor to me and a champion in my corner. What makes Teach for America unique is the culture. The work I was doing as intern was often complimented and I felt like a valued team member. One day our CIO sent out an email asking for ideas to name a bulletin board that would be a symbolic representation of the entire technology team. All submissions were placed into a survey and each tech employee voted for the name they liked best. I submitted "The Motherboard" and won the contest! As a reward for the winning submission I designed the bulletin board— complete with real computer motherboards. In doing this, I made a lasting contribution which was a highlight of my intern experience.
Interning at Teach for America was an extra ordinary. I was given opportunity to develop as young professional and was a valued member of the company. In ten weeks, I gained hands on experience in my chosen field of study and a summer that I will never forget.
How will this internship influence your future plans? My internship experiences have helped me learn what type of job is best suited for me. Work experience makes what you learn in the classroom much more real. Also, internships allow you to network within a company and people are interested sharing their knowledge and experiences with you. I know that my internship with Teach for America has put me on a path to a happy, successful career. I learned that I enjoy working in technology and that I would like to work in tech support because I get to help people everyday.
What advice do you have for other students seeking an internship? I would tell students to be proactive. I've completed three internships during my time at St. Mary's. The Career Services Center is a good place to start. Meet with an advisor, tell them what your interests are, and most importantly when you hear of opportunities apply for them!
Daniel Sanguineti
Hometown: Tucson, Arizona Major: Entrepreneurial Studies/Business Management
Classification: Senior
Internship: Gilbert Hospital, Phoenix, Arizona
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I learned about this internship through a family friend.
Describe your internship experience: I was able to work with each department of the hospital and learn how they contributed to the hospital's productivity. I composed spreadsheets related to the hospital's productivity and created job descriptions for different positions available throughout the hospital. During my internship I was fortunate enough to experience firsthand what goes into building a new hospital. Some of the unique opportunities I experienced were taking a tour in a helicopter of the hospital's new building site and sitting in on a number of meetings related to the development of construction contracts.
How will this internship influence your future plans? My internship helped me realize I would like to continue in the hospital administration field after graduation. Without the internship, I would have never have considered hospital administration.
What advice do you have for other students seeking an internship? I would say to use the career services center. They have a number of resources that can help you find an internship. Also, talk to people you know, these days it really is all about creating contacts and about who you know.
Stefanie Ransom-Becker
Hometown: El Paso, Texas Major: Corporate Financial Management/Risk Management
Classification: Senior
Internship: Berkley Re America, Greenwich, Connecticut; AXIS Re US, New York, New York
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I found out about this internship opportunity through my adviser Dr. Sommer. I mentioned to him that I was looking for an internship opportunity and he suggested the Intermediaries and Reinsurance Underwriters Association (IRU) summer internship program.
Describe your internship experience: Typically, interns are placed with two IRU member companies- one reinsurer and one broker. However, I spent the summer with two reinsurers- Berkley Re America and AXIS Re US. At Berkley, my reinsurance knowledge immediately began to grow when I started discussing the underwriting process with senior underwriters, witnessing negotiation deals in "referral" meetings, watching broker pitches, and talking with actuaries and claims personnel. I worked on a wide range of projects from streamlining reserve analysis and revising contracts to helping a senior underwriter assess the company's exposure by researching the European bond market and credit default swaps. The knowledge I gained at Berkley helped prepare me for the next level of analysis at AXIS.
At AXIS, I assisted the risk management team in an effort to create uniform, global reinsurance underwriting standards by creating a comparative analysis of the guidelines used reinsurance branches in the United States, Europe, and Bermuda. I also conducted research for the executive vice president's participation in a panel hosted by the Reinsurance Association of America. This opportunity gave me access to invaluable amount of insight from people who have been in the industry for many years and aided in my research for the company.
Matthew Sisneros
Hometown: Albuquerque, New MexicoMajor: Corporate Financial Management
Classification: Senior
Internship: J.P Morgan, New York, New York
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I learned about this internship through an organization called Sponsors for educational Opportunity (SEO), a non-profit organization that recruits talented and driven students of color to premier internships on Wall Street, Corporate America, Corporate Law, and Not Fro Profit Companies.
Describe your internship experience: The first part of my internship experience consisted of a SEO training program designed to help me gain the skills necessary to succeed in my role at J.P Morgan. The training program consisted of a comprehensive workshop on essential business tools such as Excel, Valuation/comps, Financial Modeling, PowerPoint, Accounting and Financial Statement Analysis. The training program also included a number of networking events where I got the opportunity to mingle with CEO's, senior managers, and recruiting staff within the Investment Banking Industry.
Once I began my internship as a Summer Sale Analyst for Treasury and Securities Services, I created relationship reviews for existing clients highlighting efficiencies in their current cash management process. I also developed a macro that compared the pricing differential between clients in industry groups in mid-market and actively participated in client sales calls, executive level speaker series, and executive level networking sessions.
Kathryn Maakestad
Hometown: Boise, Idaho Major:Corporate Financial Management/ Risk Management
Classification: Senior
Internship: NuStar Energy/ San Antonio, Texas
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I learned about this internship opportunity through my adviser Dr. Sommer. After researching the company, I felt it was the perfect opportunity for me to learn more about my major and the corporate side of risk management.
Describe your internship experience: I had a wonderful time interning at NuStar in the risk management department. I had the opportunity to work with the Executive Director of Risk Management and the Manager of Business Risk. Although this department is small, they have a large number of responsibilities. This worked to my advantage because I experienced one-on-on interaction with both of my supervisors. I was also given a great amount of responsibility as an intern. The summer months are NuStar's busiest time of year because they have three of their largest policies renewed at this time.
I worked on a number of different projects during my time with NuStar. One project I worked on consisted on updating and creating property and casualty slides for our underwriters. There were over 100 slides containing information on each terminal and refinery. I updated the property values, number of employees, throughput, payroll, revenue, and business interruption costs. All of this information plays a very important role when determining the amount of insurance coverage needed and what premiums to charge. It costs the company millions of dollars a year to run NuStar's insurance program. This project was a very important responsibility that directly affected the company's premium.
Other projects I worked on included helping create the risk management departmental budget for 2012 and entering and updating claims information into the company's risk management information system software. I scanned policies daily into our system and updated invoices information with accounting. I also attended daily meetings and conference calls with my supervisors. They made sure I was completely immersed in the program and they were always giving me the opportunity to learn something new.
Overall, I had an amazing experience at NuStar. It was very demanding at times however, I was able to learn an incredible amount about the energy and oil insurance business and what it takes to protect a company of that size. I was able to make numerous contacts and I gained valuable knowledge that I know will benefit me greatly in my future endeavors.
How will this internship influence your future plans? My internship has helped me get real world experience in corporate America. It has taken what I learned in the classroom and expanded on it in real life situations. It has helped me decide exactly what I want to do after I graduate. I am excited about my future career path in risk management!
What advice do you have for other students seeking an internship? I would recommend other students to research a field you are interested in learning more about. Internships are a great way to find out what you would like to do after you graduate. Find companies that fit with what you are interested in doing and go on their website since most employers have information about their internships on there. If you are having trouble finding something you think you would enjoy, ask your adviser or your professors for assistance. They are the best source of information. Be sure to give them some information on the company you are applying for and plenty of time if you need letters of recommendation!
Eric Narvaez
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas Major: Senior
Classification: Corporate Finance/Information Systems Management
Internship: Tesoro, San Antonio, Texas
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? I learned about the internship opportunity through St. Mary's University Career Services
Describe your internship experience:
The internship experience I had at Tesoro Corporation was first rate and the corporate culture was very embracive to current college students and recent college graduates. The internship provided me the opportunity to apply what I have learned in my business courses at St. Mary’s University and contribute to a fortune 150 company. This internship also provided me with the opportunity to build relationships with working professionals who truly enjoyed their job and focused on the company being well positioned for success.
One of the highlights from my internship was being able to network with various employees, directors, vice presidents, and executives within the company. All interns also had the opportunity to attend a lunch with the CEO which allowed us to directly ask him questions about developing our career, his career, and his past experiences.
My internship at Tesoro over the summer was a wonderful opportunity. I am currently still interning at Tesoro and still learning a great deal. This internship is helping me develop my career and build my professional network. I am very from and will continue to build upon as I continually develop my career and build my professional network. I am greatly appreciative of this internship opportunity.
Jeanette Vazquez
Hometown: El Paso, Texas Major: Marketing
Classification: Senior
Program: McNair Scholars Program/Summer Research Opportunities Program, Dayton, Ohio
How you learned about this research opportunity? Dr. Joseph, a marketing professor, encouraged me to apply to this program. It is geared towards minority students who plan to attend graduate school and pursue a doctoral degree. During an event at the Bill Greehey School of Business, I met Dr. Shank, Dean of the Business School at the University of Dayton, in Dayton, Ohio. I talked to him about the program and he invited me to spend the summer at the University of Dayton to conduct my research. .
Describe your research experience: I spent eight weeks this summer at the University of Dayton conducting research. As a scholar, I had several responsibilities such as searching for academic journals and articles that would help me write the research paper. The topic of my project was focused on minority and female attraction to Intramural/Recreational sports, since these two groups do not seem to participate in these sports as often as Caucasian men. I met with my mentor twice a week to report progress and ask questions. We developed a survey to measure the participation of women in sports and the factors that affect the lack of participation. I learned to use statistical software (SPSS) to analyze the data collected, as well as writing the results in the final paper in an APA format. Once the research was complete, I presented it at several conferences in the San Antonio area, and I applied to a regional conference at Texas A&M University in College Station. The McNair Scholars program is a great resource for those who plan to attend graduate school because this research experience will become useful in the future.
Amanda Crosby-Rickman
Hometown: San Antonio, Texas Major: Marketing
Classification: Senior
Internship: Union Pacific Railroad, Omaha, Nebraska
How did you learn about this internship opportunity? After transferring to St. Mary's University, I enrolled in Professor Martinez's Principles of Marketing class. He encouraged us to begin looking for our future careers, even though we were only juniors. I took his work and the next day I set up an appointment with career services. Leticia Hart was my career adviser and she informed me that Union Pacific would be interviewing on campus the next week. I interview for an internship and was later hired as an intern.
Describe your research experience: I interned as a Marketing Intern in the Marketing and Sales department of Union Pacific. I truly learned more interning at Union Pacific than I had during my previous four years of work experience. The company headquarters were absolutely amazing and it is clear the Union Pacific really cares about all of their employees throughout the company.
I worked on two major projects during my two month internship, one being a cycle time data analysis and the other being an export market analysis. The cycle time data analysis project dealt primarily with using analytical tools, such as excel and other database systems, to sort through cycle time data creating a way to utilize Union Pacific’s assets in a more productive manner. The export market analysis dealt with researching the feed industry in China, projecting the growth of US feed products in China, and creating a commercial plan for gaining a larger market share in facilitating exported feed.
The commercial plan I created for the export market analysis is actually in the process of being implemented, while the cycle time data analysis project is still in review with the regional account managers.
Interning at Union Pacific really opened my eyes to a completely new industry and helped me improve my analytical and communication skills. Throughout the different review processes they had in place at Union Pacific, I was constantly receiving feedback from my supervisors about the areas I was excelling in as well as areas I needed to improve upon.
This internship was an incredible experience, and the knowledge I gained will help me with all my future endeavors!
How will this internship influence your future plans? My internship helped open my eyes to some of the areas I feel I need to improve on, such as increasing my knowledge of analytics tools, as well as understanding the areas that I was already successful in. It also helped me realize the type of industry and corporate culture that I'm willing to work in. Having the experience of my internship present on my resume will help me in the future after graduation when I'm applying for full-time positions. Many large corporations are looking to hire individuals with work and internship experience because these individuals know what is expected of them on a corporate level and have already been exposed to corporate culture.
What advice to you have for other students seeking an internship? In order to find an internship, students first need to realize that they have great resources available at St. Mary's University. Our Civic Engagement and Career Services Center is a great place to begin! The staff at Career Services helped me update my resume, practice with a mock interview, and prepare for my actual interview with Union Pacific. Leading up to my second interview in Omaha with Union Pacific, Leticia Hart, a career service advisor, helped me prepare for five weeks by continually updating my resume and prepping my interview skills.
