Internship Spotlight: The Importance of School

Tell me about your internship! What are your responsibilities? What projects are you working on over the summer?

For the Discovery I internship with Deloitte that I did last year, I worked on two projects. My first project was a mergers and acquisitions case where a company wanted to acquire one of two companies. They would get the interns' advice to see which ones they should acquire and why. I was working in consulting, there were other interns in tax, auditing, and risk and finacial advisory. We were all working on mergers but had different strengths that we would bring to the table. It’s a lot of problem-solving work and it was great to gain new teamwork skills in the process. I worked with other interns across Deloitte’s United States offices and gained professional experience with how effective remote collaboration can be when team members are located in different places. It was a rewarding collaborative process.

The second project was pro-bono work with a non-profit. In contrast to the structured business simulation of the first project, this one placed interns directly in practical, real-world scenarios. For the second project, interns were assigned among various groups to assist each different non-profit. I was assigned to a nonprofit organization in Denver called Clayton Early Learning. They provide education and healthy food to lower-income students and communities. Some parents don’t have the money or the time to make nutritional meals for their kids, and it is cheaper and easier to have less nutritious options in school cafeterias. Clayton tries to provide fresh food for students at least twice a day. They also have a market side; they let the parents shop for healthy food for free. Our job was to help them with any problems they had and recommend how they could grow and expand. Government aid from the pandemic was set to run out soon, so they asked us for advice in that scenario as well. It was a rewarding experience to work on a real-world project and try to make a making a meaningful impact in the community.

This summer I will return as a Discovery II intern based out of the Chicago office. I will be working for the Application Modernization and Innovation (AMI) service line at Deloitte Consulting. Deloitte’s AMI solutions help deliver business value through digital transformation.

How did your school work prepare you for this role?

I think schoolwork is important for a couple of reasons. The first is cognitive development. I think the problem-solving skills you gain from taking computer science and other STEM courses is directly applicable during internships and eventually for full-time jobs. The ability to think through a situation with a logical framework is one of the most important skills someone can bring to the table. Although you might not be directly applying physics on the job at a consulting firm, it’s the same thought process that helps you think through real-world problems to solve them. Second, I think the ability to effectively communicate with others is imperative when seeking roles. I think something the University of Minnesota is continually improving on is offering classes where students can collaborate more often in problem-solving settings. Whether it’s during a Data Structures project or a Microeconomics presentation, learning to work as a team and critically think with other people is a really important skill to build, and often leads to the best results.

How did you become interested in computer science and your specific areas of interest?

I’m a problem solver at heart; I’ve always loved the sciences, whether that’s biology, physics, or chemistry, and I realized the string that holds these subjects together is problem solving. All science subjects require you to use math and critical thinking to explain the real world, and computer science is the same. Furthermore, I think computer science is a growing field in terms of artificial intelligence (AI) and cyber security, and the innovation of technology in general. I think that's a big part of why I am interested in this field. More importantly, I think computer science is a diverse field. I have a lot of interests - I’m interested in medicine, engineering, and business. I think computer science lays out the fundamentals of problem-solving that most fields require. I want to build my problem-solving skills and I think computer science is the best major to do that. Also if I want to make something in the future, such as a startup or build out an idea, I think an engineering degree is the best way to build my skills to bring my creative ideas to life.

What are your future career goals? How has this position impacted your goals?

I’m not entirely sure where I want to go from here, but I want to be somewhere in the intersection of technology and finance. This position is right at the intersection that I was looking for. I love the position that I have here at Deloitte, and I am looking forward to learning at the internship through real-world client experience and mentorship in the future. Getting more hands-on experience at Deloitte would be great. I’m also interested in QUANT, which is also in the technological finance field. A role there would be slightly more technology-focused. My dad is a big inspiration for me, something that really stuck was when he told me “Whatever field you go into, be the best at what you do.” My family’s support is great motivation for me to work to be the best, and I can’t wait for the future.

What advice would you give to someone pursuing a similar internship in the future?

I have a couple of pieces of advice. As I said, grades are really important. I remember when I was coming out of high school a lot of people told me, “C’s get degrees.” Although that is true, it's a lot easier to get past that resume-screening phase with a better GPA. For most internships, getting into the interview phase can be the hardest part. If you can get into that interview phase, you can practice for the interview phase and get better. It’s an acquired skill. You might not be great at interviewing at first, but you can reach out to people to improve your interviewing skills. It's really important to get past that resume screening phase, which nowadays is done by a lot of computers or AI tools. If there aren’t certain keywords or a certain GPA, they get thrown out. You have to play it right and put yourself in the best position you can. A resource I used often was the CSE career services, where I worked to improve my resume, and I encouraged others to do the same.

There are a million reasons why you might not have the best GPA; you may have more responsibilities at home and aren't able to put yourself out there the best. My advice for everyone would be to always look to network. Reaching out to people at other companies, a lot of people are open to talking. You don’t always have to speak to them to get a specific job either. They might give you career or life advice that just might help you in general. I would also encourage U of M students to use Handshake; it’s a great resource that we have available to use as students. I think reaching out to recruiters or other people in the firm to learn about the internship is just putting yourself in the best position. A great opportunity to meet consulting recruiters at the top firms is at the Undergraduate Consulting Club, where I’m the president. We welcome students from all different majors to come network and learn!