Voice of Goizueta Blogger: Nicole Gilzenrat – Marketing Internship Stories
Name: Marisa Kowalsky
Previous Position: Sales and Marketing Manager- Restaurant Industry
Summer Internship: Marketing Strategist – 3M
I served as an internal marketing consultant for 3M on B2B and B2C projects in industries such as food safety, office supplies and safety & security.
What class(es) prepared you the most for your summer internship? Marketing, Market Intelligence, Goizueta Marketing Strategy Consultancy, Leading Organizations & Strategy
What is one thing you wish you would have done more in your first year to better prepare you for the internship? More project based or simulation work
How important was company culture? Very
What was your biggest surprise? The broad range of industries and types of analysis that were touched throughout the summer.
Name: Ben Jarrett
Previous Position: Associate Director of Development, Georgetown University
Summer Internship: Brand Manager – Kimberly Clark
B2B Strategy project for a product line designed to increase hygiene and worker satisfaction in the office building segment.
What class(es) prepared you the most for your summer internship? Core Marketing, Goizueta Marketing Strategy Consultancy, Marketing Channel Strategy
What is one thing you wish you would have done more in your first year to better prepare you? I wish I’d taken an additional strategy class because so much of marketing is identifying strategy and creating tactics.
How important was company culture? Very. I was so happy to spend my summer with Kimberly-Clark because they really value their employees and are an incredibly innovative and forward thinking company. Such a wonderful place to work!
What was your biggest surprise? I was really surprised how much GMSC prepared me for my internship. I felt better equipped to deal with the challenges and rigors of working in a fast paced environment. Also, the leadership experience I gained from my first year at Goizueta was tremendously helpful when working with cross-functional teams.
Name: Mike Summers
Previous Position: Account Manager – AT&T
Summer Internship: Brand Management Intern – Kraft Foods
This summer I worked in brand management on Cracker Barrel cheese. I was tasked with three different projects including a commercialization project for our packaging, developing a strategy to grow our distribution in Wal-Mart, and developing a strategy to increase consumer snacking in 2013.
What class(es) prepared you the most for your summer internship? Goizueta Marketing Strategy Consultancy and Marketing Intelligence were two classes that tremendously helped with understanding how to develop a strategic recommendation as well as understanding the analytics of the job.
What is one thing you wish you would have done more in your first year to better prepare you? I would have liked to have spent more time understanding marketing terminology used in systems such as Nielsen
How important was company culture? This is a huge factor for me and the most important aspect for me.
What was your biggest surprise? I was extremely surprised at the amount I would learn over the summer. It is extremely important to enter your summer internship ready to learn not only from your colleagues and your manager, but also from your fellow interns.
