#SoUMSL- The Internship Balancing Act
By: Rachel Mohrhard
What’s Up UMSL Business?
Today I am going to be talking to you about one of the internships offered to UMSL business students. This particular internship comes out of the management of promotions course taught in the spring and fall semesters, where the class lets you work closely with Chevy dealerships around St. Louis. One of the biggest benefits is the opportunity for students to work on their own marketing plan. So cool right?! We sat down with Allison to get the scoop on her internship in an exclusive Q&A. Allison, who graduated this past spring, was the intern chosen from UMSL last semester. We thought it might be great to find out her experience and how the internship made her more successful and knowledgeable in the field, while also finding out some of her favorite things about UMSL business.
Allison graduated with a BS in Business Administration with an emphasis in marketing and just finished this internship a few weeks ago. The first thing we asked Allison was, how she found out about her internship, where she began to tell us about her Management of promotions class that lead her there. Allison told us, Within this class, there was an external project, Chevy Marketing Campaign, that a group of students could participate in and also earn a class grade for. While working on the project and presenting in from of the Mid-America Chevy Dealers group, some students could have been considered for an internship if they wished. Like many other business students, Allison was required to have an internship for her to graduate, so if you can get an internship while also working on a cool project, why not? Getting to work closely with local businesses isn’t something most colleges have the ability to do so, props to you UMSL business! Below is a photo of Allison (left) and group member working on their Management of Promotions marketing event!
We also asked Allison how she thought UMSL business affected her internship and if she thought it was a big part of it. She talked about how she definitely thinks that UMSL affected her internship because it was the class offered by UMSL that put her directly into the hands of this internship. She also got to work closely with the dealers during the project, so she was able to form a relationship with them to help make her process through Chevy easier. Below is a photo of just one of the awesome events Allison got to be a part of with her time at Chevy.
Since most of our students here at UMSL are also working, we asked Allison how it was balancing work and this internship. She said since her internship ran from January until the end of October, there was a lot of time off in the beginning, but internship hours hit hard during the summer. It was not easy trying to balance a full-time and a part-time job. There were multiple weeks she hit 60-65 hours a week. There was a period of time she worked 22 days straight during the busy season, holiday, and the dreaded summer heat. Looking back now, she would change how somethings “balanced” out. College coursework, internships, and working is not an easy balancing act. Students need to be able to work these schedules in together to make sure they can be successful in all of these aspects. This is definitely something to take into account if you’re looking into an internship this or any other semester!
Click here to find out more about UMSL internship opportunities and how they can shape your career.
Until next time, this has been the UMSL business blog, let us know what you want to hear more about!