Internships:
 A Taste of the Working World

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Maria Rolfes
Edward Jones
Intern in Banking Services

After spending my summer as an intern for Edward Jones, I can say I am extremely happy with how my internship unfolded; however, a lot of work led up to this feeling of gratification. 

When searching for internships, I did everything from Career Expos to the Yellow Pages to networking. A mock interview at the Career Center introduced me to a recruiter named Sally from Edward Jones. Sally happened to be a Truman alumna and a member of my sorority! I also talked to my cousin Amy who works at Edward Jones. These contacts helped me get the names of recruiters in the College Recruiting Department. I stayed in steady contact with these employers and kept my name in front of them as much as possible. From this persistence and a good resume, I gained a phone interview. Phone interviews narrowed down the candidate pool from 700 applicants to 80 finalists. As a finalist, I went to St. Louis to interview for the position. I spent many hours researching the company, preparing an agenda for what I wanted to mention, and even writing myself a pep talk about why they should hire me. The pep talk may seem odd, but you need confidence to sell yourself and pep talks work for me!

I was ecstatic to gain an internship in the Banking Services Department. Banking Services includes mortgages, customer loans, credit cards, online account services and a program called Complete Financial Organization. Banking Services markets these services to the 8,000+ local Edward Jones offices to encourage them to sell these services to their clients. My internship was a marketing internship with tons of opportunities for great experience. I wrote text for several marketing pieces including brochures and newsletters, administered a firm-wide promotion, and improved ways to market banking services to the local Edward Jones offices. In addition to my daily duties, I also had opportunities to give presentations, co-host conference calls, and attend many workshops and classes. 

Upon completing my internship, I realized that I learned more than I ever expected. For example, if you intern, make the most of any opportunity (no matter how insignificant it may seem) to make an impression on all your co-workers. Whether this happens to be the CEO of the company or the security guard, make yourself memorable in a positive way. Every time I gave a presentation I tried to stand out in a unique way. It was very tempting to go with the same old methods that my colleagues used, but I learned to step out of my comfort zone and be creative. Secondly, you can almost never have enough energy. This carries over to having a positive attitude and volunteering to do anything to gain experience. Lastly, network like it is your job! Don't pass up an opportunity to meet a new person over lunch or passing in the hallways. A big part of an internship is getting to know as many people as possible. Making contacts will often help you on your own projects and give you the visibility you need to make an impression during your short summer. 

Not only can an internship be a powerful learning tool and experience but it can also make you more marketable upon graduation. In a competitive job market top candidates will have two or three internships completed. Search for the internships everywhere. Be persistent! And watch your hard work pay off in the form of a fantastic internship!