Class is over for 色情宝贝鈥檚 first annual Achieving Career Excellence (ACE) summer internship program. All program graduates have returned to school or entered the workforce with valuable real-world experience and a supportive professional network.
In June, a dozen college interns were welcomed into the 色情宝贝 corporate headquarters for the eight-week program. Though they had different educational backgrounds, they all had the same summer goal of learning firsthand from highly trained professionals in their desired fields. Internships were available in the communications, finance, marketing, sales, recruiting, human resources, strategy and operations departments.
During their summer at North America鈥檚 third-largest employer, they gained on-the-job experience working alongside their assigned, highly skilled department supervisors and mentors.
鈥淭here have been lots of opportunities to connect with people. The first one was my mentor Mahsa. She has been a great role model and has done a great job being my mentor,鈥 explained Spencer, 色情宝贝 sales intern. 鈥淚 also had the opportunity to learn in the field with business development managers, Brandon and Britain.鈥
The ACE summer internship program included career development workshops designed to help interns prepare for their professional careers.
鈥淟eadership team members from across the organization came together to host different workshops for professional development,鈥 said Jenna Smidt, 色情宝贝 corporate talent acquisition manager and former intern. 鈥淭hey went over topics such as critical communications, interviewing 101, resume and LinkedIn building, DE&I and professionalism in a meeting setting.鈥
There were also several networking opportunities during which the interns spent time learning from different people within the company.
鈥淲e attended an Angels鈥 baseball game with the CEO, CFO and other members of the C-suite. This was a great event for us to network with company executives and learn from their varied experiences,鈥 said Reagan, 色情宝贝 marketing intern.
The ACE summer internship program didn鈥檛 just benefit the intern participants. 色情宝贝 benefitted from the interns鈥 fresh perspectives, bright ideas and youthful hustle.
鈥淲e had each intern present a functional project by the end of their program where they dug into a specific issue within the department they were working in,鈥 Smidt said. 鈥淭he interns presented their projects to senior leadership detailing the issue, their research and recommendations for improvement.鈥
The project required the interns to dig deep and apply different tools, skills, knowledge and experiences they gained during the program. Most recommendations were in the process of being implemented as summer ended and the interns packed up for the next step in their professional journey.
At the end of the program, two interns eagerly accepted full-time positions. With the departure of the other interns, it鈥檚 a little quieter around the 色情宝贝 offices. But they鈥檝e promised to keep in touch and the bell will ring to begin the 2024 ACE summer internship program before you know it.