CWIB Summer Internship Recap

CWIB members were keeping busy this past summer! We wanted to share some of our members’ most memorable moments from their time spent working as interns before the start of the fall semester, as well as some helpful tips and advice they wanted to share with anyone looking to find an internship of their own this year.

Morgan Allison

Morgan Allison, CWIB’s VP of Treks, traveled to Charlotte, North Caroline this past summer to work as a Business Analyst Intern for Alliance Legal Solutions. Alliance Legal Solutions offers case and portfolio law firm financing for small law firms. In this role, she applied her skills in Microsoft Excel and Salesforce to conduct data analysis for the company’s clients. Morgan was interested in this role because she wanted to see what it was like to live and work in Charlotte and wanted to gain some experience in data analytics before applying for consulting work in the future.

One of her favorite memories from working for Alliance this summer was when she decided to pitch several original marketing ideas to the company’s CEO. While this was outside of the scope of her role, she felt that her ideas could “contribute to the overall success of the company.” It’s always a good idea to stretch your capabilities and understanding in any role you take on - you never know where a good idea might come from!

Morgan’s biggest piece of advice for anyone looking for internships is to “trust the process. If you don't get a position you were hoping to get, know that it's because a better opportunity is out there for you.”

Betty Kang

CWIB Member, Betty Kang, participated in an Audit & Assurance Internship this past summer at Deloitte’s McLean office. Deloitte is one of the nation’s foremost business consulting firms. There, Betty worked with an audit team in a specific industry to learn how to conduct risk assessments and how to design and perform audit procedures in response to those risks. She enjoyed honing her analytical skills by working on internal control processes and facilitating transactions with clients. She picked up some new expertise in data visualization and process flow automation, as well.

Betty’s interest in this position stemmed from her desire to begin her career at a public accounting firm and to learn more about working with financial statements. She has already accepted a full-time offer to return to Deloitte upon graduating and is excited to continue her time there while completing the Certified Public Accountant (CPA) exam.

Her favorite memory from working with Deloitte this past summer was being able to meet so many new people within her internship program. She recalls how well everyone bonded and worked together towards their team goals, even in such a large office. Betty also enjoyed getting to visit Deloitte University in Texas, where Deloitte trains its new hires from across the United States.

Betty’s biggest piece of advice for students hunting for accounting internships is to get your CPA requirement as soon as you can because “public firms love to see people who are also ready or at least on [their] way to taking the CPA exam.” She also recommends connecting with Hokie alumni at Deloitte or another Big Four company to give yourself a big advantage during hiring season. These alumni can connect you directly to a recruiter and possibly offer you a referral, which could be the difference between a denial and an offer.

Gabriela Espinoza

CWIB’s VP of Showcase, Gabriela Espinoza, spent her summer working as a Marketing Intern at Ozmo here in Blacksburg. Ozmo is a technology company based in Blacksburg that creates software solutions to provide virtual technology support applications. As an intern, she performed market and industry research and ran the company’s social media accounts, gaining a wide variety of experience within the marketing department.

Gabriela was interested in this position because she plans on pursuing a career in marketing within the technology industry. While she has little experience with this industry and had primarily worked in the beauty industry prior to this internship, she was very eager to learn more and step outside of her comfort zone. Giving herself a more holistic perspective of the work a marketer does across industries would give her a competitive advantage moving forward in the job market.

One of her favorite memories from working at Ozmo this past summer was being able to form a close working relationship with the Chief Marketing Officer. She appreciates this appeal of working in a small company, where she can get to know her coworkers and upper management better. She says “each of the people on the team worked to hard to ensure I had a wonderful experience,” and she recalls their weekly Coffee Chat Wednesdays, where the team posed thought-provoking questions to each other and engaged in meaningful discussions.

Gabriela’s biggest piece of advice for students searching for internships is that they should “work hard, don't be afraid to try new things, and be a good person.” She remembers feeling stressed about what she would be doing over the summer before finding her internship, but tried to keep an open mind throughout the application process. This helped her relax and find a job that suited her best.

Sabrina Fasold

Sabrina Fasold, CWIB’s VP of Recruitment, spent her summer working for One Young World in London, as an intern for their summit team. The firm hosts an annual summit in various countries across the globe. This year, the summit was held in Manchester, where Sabrina helped to organize and manage over 2,000 attendees. Sabrina has known since high school that she wanted to travel abroad during college, but was unsure if her transfer student status and the pandemic would impact her ability to pursue her dream. She connected her desire to hold an internship before graduating with her dream to go abroad, and soon found the Absolute Internship program, which allowed her to find her summer internship.

At One Young World, Sabrina enjoyed getting to network within such a young and vibrant company with employees from all over the world. Particularly, she remembers fun lunch breaks with the other employees, where she got to learn about everyone on a more personal level and hear about their experiences living in other countries. While her time at One Young Life was enriching and fun, Sabrina believes she’ll take her experience to a different industry moving forward.

For all of our CWIB members looking for internships, Sabrina offers this advice: “Don’t stress if it’s not the perfect job or industry. Internships are all about testing out different things and learning what you like and don’t like!”

While searching for an internship is hard work, our CWIB members show us that anyone is capable of finding success if they try their best and make smart decisions. We hope to share even more of our members' exciting internship experiences again next year, as our members continue to utilize our pillars - empower, prepare, and connect - to guide them as they pursue their career goals.

By Lauren Miles