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Undergraduate Career Development

Spotlighting Student Success


 SPOTLIGHTING STUDENT SUCCESS                 

In the spotlight:

Ruth Andrews - During the summer of 2008, Ruth will be a Human Resource Intern with Capsugel, a Division of Pfizer, located in Greenwood, SC.  She will be involved with process mapping, gap analysis, and project management to improve its recruiting, hiring, and on-boarding processes.  After not receiving the position she originally interviewed for in supply chain management, she interviewed for a second time for this position in human resources and succeeded.

Says Ruth: "Achieving an internship was not an easy route.  A semester full of preparation including company research, updating my resume, and behavioral interviewing practice finally paid off.  I do know that I wouldn't be where I am today without the help of the Career Center staff who gave me the tools and guidance I needed to succeed."

Although Ruth will be working on a variety of projects for Capsugel, her main project will be to implement aspects of the company's attendance system.  At the end of her three-month internship, she will present her summer project to her fellow summer interns and Capsugel colleagues.

Katherine Vernali - Katherine worked as the digital media marketing intern for ESPN, assisting with campaign management, agency briefs, trafficking, and reporting.  Her largest project of the summer was an extensive audit of the social networking landscape that analyzed corporate and ESPN brand representation.  In the end, she developed a large presentation that provided recommendations for the entire marketing department on how to utilize this space.

Katherine's internship taught her "a lot about how drastically different digital media is from traditional media and how relatively new it all is ... the development of technology essentially dictates how things move in the way of marketing."  Even more importantly, the internship allowed her to "learn from talented individuals the best way to work within this field."

"Interning is definitely the key to finding full-time employment after graduation," Katherine advises other students.  She received a full-time offer from ESPN in New York, NY, and will be working in the same area where she interned.

Devon McGee - During the summer after his freshman year, Devon interned with Citi Smith Barney, the private wealth management arm of Citigroup, in Atlanta, GA.  He secured this internship simply by exchanging a few e-mails and going to lunch with a family friend who is a client of a Smith Barney financial advisor.

Devon's tasks mostly were made up of market and analytical research, but also included client presentations, marketing and customer services, and developing an organization system for 529 plans.

Devon encourages all students to consider internships.  "There were a lot of things that I did not know going into the internship, having just finished my freshman year, but it only took me about a week or two to start understanding everything that I was involved with.  Take any internship opportunity you can, whenever you can.  Don't say that you don't want a certain internship because it is not what you want to do after you graduate, because you can take that opportunity and do something with it that you may have never thought possible."  He also "found out quickly that in the corporate world, they want someone who is proactive and enthusiastic, and if you can embody those qualities in the workplace you will be destined for success no matter the industry you go into."

Christian Bogue - Christian was a marketing intern at the South Carolina Energy Office in Columbia for the fall semester of 2007.  He received the position by calling a contact he made after attending several Environmental Advisory Committee and Office of Sustainability meetings at USC the previous year.

Christian was primarily responsible for the marketing of new initiatives from the federal government and state government as well as working with other organizations to promote their energy-related campaigns.  His biggest project was drafting and executing a comprehensive marketing plan (on a limited budget) for solar water heating targeting industrial water users - such as hotels, restaurants, and spas - in South Carolina's tourism industry.  Another project consisted of creating various types of marketing paraphernalia (flyers, posters, etc.) for the SC Manufactured Housing Institute promoting the purchase of Energy Star certified manufactured homes.

Christian learned about the science and economics behind the renewable energy sector as well as the current state and federal policies toward energy.  In addition to putting his interest in sustainability to good use, "I was finally able to take all the exercises and assignments I had churned out for classes and apply the principles behind them toward real work situations."

Gary Morrison - As a rising senior, Gary completed an internship related to his career goals to gain experience and build his resume.  He offers the following advice to fellow students:

"To everyone who feels like their internship or job search is becoming hopeless, use my story as inspiration.  After applying to over 60 companies from a small apartment in Paris I was able to find an internship at the JCPenney Headquarters in Dallas, Texas!  There is no better way to land a higher initial salary than to have internship experience on your resume!"

As a final requirement of the internship, Gary presented his project on Turnover to the Chief Human Resources and Administrative Officer of JCPenney.

Kyle Via - As a junior, Kyle has already completed 2 internships.  In Account Services at Strategic Marketing International, he experienced hands-on, direct involvement in the entire marketing process with responsibilities including new business leads, graphic design, ad planning and running, media schedules, and marketing plan prospecting and personal selling.

As an assistant to a company Principal and Managing Partner at Carolinas Financial Network, Kyle took advantage of "a great chance 'to get my feet wet' learning the business of life insurance and financial planning from some of its most successful practitioners."

Recognizing the value of such experiences, Kyle is returning to another internship for the summer before his senior year.

Are you a student - or do you know a student - with a "success story?"   We want to know if you've:

Please contact Rebecca Cody to tell us about your success and how you accomplished it.  Student success stories will be published on this page only by the student's written permission.

TELL US ABOUT YOUR NEW JOB!            TELL US ABOUT YOUR INTERNSHIP!       

If you have accepted a full-time professional position (or been accepted to graduate school) OR if you have completed an internship, please tell us about it.  Your experience will assist future Moore School of Business students.

Tell Us About Your New Job! Tell Us About Your Internship!