Mary Garcia, UST MBA Class of 2011
From our career services staff to our professors, everyone has the same piece of advice for us when looking for our internships: “Work on your networking.” For some of us this is the start of our worst nightmare. We do not know how to approach somebody we haven't met before, we do not know what to say and we do not want people to think we are stalkers. But today I tell you if you manage to conquer those fears, networking works.
In February, I assisted as a volunteer to the UST MBA Forum with Princeton Review on campus. During the session a panel of current students talked about their experiences at UST. One of them was an evening student that works at Cummins. As soon as I heard that my heart just jumped and I thought: I want to work at Cummins!
Of course all the fears that I just mentioned also jumped to my head, but my husband–who is also a UST MBA student–encouraged me to fight those fears and approach him. So, I waited outside the auditorium after the event and talked to him. First I mentioned that I am also part of the UST community and then I let him know my interest in an internship position at Cummins. To my surprise he was very pleased that I approached to him and he gave me his card and told me to send him my resume.
One week later I had an informational interview with him. We had a cup of coffee and talked more about the company and my opportunities inside the company. The following week I was contacted by the human resources department for an interview–he had given them my resume. The next Monday I had my interview and by the end of the week I had an offer. So, yes, it is true: networking is important and can help you to find the internship of your dreams.
