Calgon, Take Me Away!: Life of a Calgon Intern

         

   First of all, a series of very fortunate events led me to this internship. Being a freshman last year, it is generally a difficult task to find an internship your first summer after college, nonetheless a paid internship. However, my trip to New York with SUSA in the Fall, led to my discovery of terpAMA, which led to meeting a terpAMA board member who interned for Ilex Consumer Products Group last school year. When she told me Ilex was looking for a summer intern, I immediately pursued this opportunity. Long story short, network, network, NETWORK. Many employers are not apt to read a freshman’s resume unless you know someone!

            That being said, I couldn’t be happier with this internship. I work at Ilex Consumer Products Group, which is located in the warehouse at Orioles Stadium in Baltimore. Ilex Consumer Products Group is a private equity firm, which means that we invest in companies/brands in our case Calgon, St. Josephs, and Digel. I am a Marketing and Innovation intern for the Calgon brand. This brand is an older brand that currently targets the 35+ age group and is known for their slogan “Calgon, take me away.” This summer especially, the marketing team has been extremely busy innovating the brand to target younger age groups. Stay tuned next year for the new product launches---I can’t give out any secrets!

           

            I have learned more than I had ever imagined I would in a matter of 2 months so far. I have been involved in every step of product development starting with the concept, the research/competitor comparisons to support the concept, the Request for Quotes to retrieve pricing info from our suppliers, the Creative Service Requests to know the price of creating product designs, fragrance selection, and of course marketing strategy for our product lines. A recent project that our marketing team worked on was creating planograms to present to a potential buyer. We had to include competitor products and our existing/new products in a rendering of a 4ft shelf plan and 8ft shelf plan. I found this project extremely interesting because it was not a matter of what looks good, but really a matter of what past numbers and future forecasts show to ultimately determine what items we would discontinue, keep, or launch for 2013.

            Lastly, I manage Calgon’s social media. I have been trying to post every day on this page to keep our fans involved. I really have been leveraging our slogan by posting luxurious pictures of vacation getaways along with the words “Calgon, take me away!” This strategy has really boosted fan involvement. Another strategy is to offer frequent giveaways. These giveaways always result in an increase in page likes and page virality.

            As you can see, I could talk about this internship for hours on end because of how invaluable this experience has been thus far!

The Life of a Summer Intern at: Unilever

Two years ago I got a call that I never expected. It was a Friday morning, and in addition to frustrations of pulling an all-nighter, I was anxious about the verdict from my last interview two days before. Halfway through brushing my teeth, my phone rang and flashed a number that I knew could only have been from one possible person: the Unilever HR rep. Nervous, and with a toothbrush still in my hand, I answered - and 50 short seconds later, I was pleasantly surprised by an internship offer.

So much has happened during my summers with Unilever since then, and I’ve had an amazing experience! Last year, I was working close to the Walmart headquarters in Arkansas – a pleasantly surprising state by the way – in Customer Development. I was asked to build a digitized tool to help us track “incremental retail,” essentially any sales above and beyond what we expected to make. The problem? I’d had ZERO programming experience before. So initially, I was worried, but Unilever enrolled me in a Microsoft Access class (way more beneficial than BMGT301) that really took my project forward, and that’s one of the best things about working for this company: they believe in making investments in their employees. In retrospect, it was just what I needed out of an internship – the opportunity to get completely out of my comfort zone and use both critical thinking and technical skills to create something meaningful. My only issue? I wish I’d been 21 and had a car – it’s hard to do anything in Rogers, Arkansas otherwise…

When I got an offer to come back, I hesitated; CD had been interesting, but I honestly just wanted to be in marketing. Nervous as I was about their reaction, I asked Unilever to transfer me – and they did. That was a huge learning experience: in my opinion, so long as you have a good reason for asking something of your company, absolutely do it, because you may regret it if you don’t. Now, I’m working in Brand Development (in marketing) for a really exciting product: Suave Kids! Essentially, I have to develop a long-term strategy to help us gain market share. Since my other internship and class experiences have always focused on short-term deliverables, this is still out of my comfort zone, but it’s exciting nonetheless. I’ve gotten a chance to work on everything from licensing to product innovation to sustainability, and along the road, I’ve had the opportunity to work with Ogilvy, conduct my own focus group, and plan an event for all of the interns. At a company as large as Unilever, you’ll obviously have to be patient with all of the intricate processes involved in decision-making, but if you create work for yourself even when it isn’t mandatory, people will notice it and appreciate it.

             As this is my last “internable” (word?) summer, I’m definitely hoping for a full-time offer with Unilever, ideally in marketing. Hope it works out! Feel free to email me at manas.kulkarni.91@gmail.com if you have any questions about it – I’d be happy to answer! 

The Life of a Summer Intern at: CORT Furniture

Hey everyone! Nick here to give a look in on my internship with CORT furniture. Many of you in AMA might know that we have a very good relationship with CORT as we have done quite a few consulting projects for them in the past. They are really looking to expand their rental furniture program into the college market (their program eliminates buying used furniture, assembling anything new, and the aggravations associated with short-term furniture ownership). Their new program is called CORT U and I am a big contributor to anything going on within the division. I heard about the position from our faculty adviser, Professor Harms, and got in contact with CORT's VP of Marketing. See, AMA connections really do pay off (literally)!

So far, I have loved my time at CORT. I get to sit on all the conference calls related to CORT U, including those with our advertising agency and public relations firm. Being able to speak your voice to such experienced marketers is always a cool opportunity and I would like to think that I have contributed to some of the new innovations. Plus, as I only naively found out a few weeks ago, I indirectly intern for Warren Buffet! (Buffet's conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway owns CORT).

I have already gotten a lot out of the internship and look to soak in even more chances as the summer goes on. First off, I have already made a ton of connections both in and out of the company. They give me free reign to connect with anyone who can help me with my projects. Second, I have done a ton of market research regarding what students want (through surveys) and about what colleges our services might work at. It's never a bad thing to put some of that kind of experience on a resume!

With all of the positives out of the way, I do have to say: I miss being able to say that my 'early' classes were at 11AM. Working 9 - 5 really puts some perspective on how lucky we are to be college students!

Job Searching Lessons From The Unemployed Senior

As a marketing student looking for a job once I graduate, I understand how frustrating it can be to land a good job in marketing. Although I haven't actually gotten a job yet, I thought I'd share some of the lessons I learned during this process. 

1. Network, Network, Network!


"It's not about what you know or who you know. It's about who knows you" - some dude I met

Networking is the most underutilized form of  job searching. Employers are simply looking to hire good people, and the more employers you meet and get to know, the better chance you will have at landing a good job. 

• The Smith School offers information sessions for many companies. Attend any of them that have the slightest interest to you. Meet the speakers, get their business cards, follow-up and connect with them on LinkedIn. 
• The NYC SUSA trip, (happens every fall), is the best chance to meet    employers from the New York City area. The marketing group visits top advertising agencies  every year and for those of us looking to work in NYC there is no better opportunity to network with NYC employers.
• terpAMA and other student organizations have professional events for students to connect with employers on a weekly basis. Attend these events and meet these professionals even if they are not hiring! 

Always remember, even if you don't want to work for a certain employer networking with them is still beneficial because you never know who they know. It's a small world. 

2. Use Resources

As students we have a variety of resources at our finger tips. Believe it or not I actually got an interview after using talentzoo, a job search website specifically for marketers. Other similar websites include TalentWorks and the AMA Job Board. 

• Professors: They actually want to help you. The better job you get, the better they look. So, ask your Professors to help connect you with potential employers...they know people too. 
• A friend of mine actually uses other schools job search platforms to look for jobs. So, ask your friends from other schools to let you use their login information to look for jobs offered at their schools. This can be very beneficial especially if your looking to work somewhere other than the Washington, D.C. area.
•  In order to combat the thousands of people that apply online I used LinkedIn to obtain the email of HR managers at companies I wanted to work for. It does take some time because you have to figure out what the company's email structure is to figure our their email, but it is well worth it. 

3. Get Involved

Getting involved in student organizations also has boundless benefits. An interview I had last week was set up by one of my fraternity brothers. He knew someone that worked in Advertising in NYC and got me an interview. 

There are many organizations within the business school and beyond to get involved in, and they do help you during your job search. This is especially important for some of the underclassmen that may not have that internship experience.

Lastly, this process can be frustrating and it is easy to lose motivation fast. At times you will feel like you hit a wall and have no hope.Those walls are for the people who don't really want it as bad as you and the more walls you climb, the more likely  you are to succeed. 

For those of us lacking motivation...