Internship Program: Healthy and Growing at One Year

Students in the School of Business have long had plenty of venues in which they can put into practice the theories and models they study in class: Student professional organizations provide opportunities to develop leadership and organizational skills. The trading room exposes students to decision making in real time, using real-world data. Students in the VITA program are tax advisers to members of the community. And internships provide supervised experiences in real organizations.

Things are even more exciting now. A year ago Karen Gorewit, who holds an M.B.A. from the State University of New York at Binghamton, came aboard as the school's internship coordinator to manage the relationships among host organizations, student interns, and faculty supervisors.

In assessing the first year of the internship initiative, we find some remarkable achievements and the promise of a top-notch program for years to come. Under Gorewit's leadership, the program has opened up new and exciting opportunities. Alumni, parents of IC students, and invited speakers have come forth with a stunning array of internships. This year's returning business and accounting majors spent the summer in some of the best internships offered by any school in the nation. The list of those host organizations reads like a who's who of global businesses and includes American Stock Exchange, Arthur Andersen Consulting, Bank of New York, Claritas, Emerson Power Transmission, H. J. Heinz of Canada, Hilton Hotels, MTV, Ogilvy and Mather, Paine Webber, Prudential, and PSINet. During the academic year our students held internships closer to home in organizations such as the Community Dispute Resolution Center, Cornell University sports marketing department, the Ithaca Downtown Partnership, the Ithaca mayor's office, Merrill Lynch, Sciarabba Walker, Solomon Smith Barney, and Spider Graphics.

Nick Economos, a senior concentrating in management and finance, interned during the summer at the American Stock Exchange. He was no gofer, either, but did substantial analysis work. "I worked as an equity research analyst," he says. "I created customized, company-specific analyses and presentations for listed and prospect companies, demonstrating the benefits of an AMEX listing. An analysis compared the subject company to its peers in a target marketplace and looked at a variety of relevant measures, which included quote spreads, intra-day volatility, price performances, valuation, institutional ownership, and analyst coverage. I spent the remainder of my time on the trading floor gaining an understanding of how market orders are received and placed, as well as how specialists have the ability to manipulate the financial markets. I gained a better understanding of how the financial markets operate and how easily a stock can be manipulated through trading by specialists and market-makers."

Senior Tasabbur Hasan (left), who is from Bangladesh, interned with Arthur Andersen. He, too, did substantial work during the summer. His work as part of the company's transaction team focused on the valuation of deals ranging from $100 million to $600 million. "We advised the client management on compensation of personnel, the capital structure and cash flows of the target, critical contingencies and exposure, the intended deal structure, and exit strategy," he explains. "We also focused on provisions of merger or purchase agreements and the target's integration issues. I visited target sites and data rooms and interviewed target management. I also attended two weeks of training on business auditing at Andersen's training facility in Chicago. Because of my valuable contributions to the team, I have been offered a full-time position with Arthur Andersen, starting next September."

Shannon McNamara, also a senior, interned in Toronto at H. J. Heinz Canada. There she "created an Excel program that worked as a revaluation schedule for manufacturing variances," she says. And because the company had some problems arising from recent hierarchy changes in the computer software, she explains, "I helped to balance the software systems each month and worked closely with the IS division to correct any problems discovered. Other responsibilities I had included daily inventory evaluation for the pet food division, monthly journal entries, updating schedules, condensing or eliminating profit centers, and helping other analysts with their responsibilities when needed."

Senior Nikolaj Birjukow spent his summer in New York with Ogilvy and Mather Advertising. "I was able to get a feel for what goes on in the exciting world of advertising," he reports, "and was extremely grateful to be placed on the Kraft account with such a wonderful team. They helped me with anything I questioned but at the same time gave me room to learn and grow on my own."

That is, after all, what it's all about. If your company or organization is interested in hosting an intern from the School of Business, contact Karen Gorewit at kgorewit@ithaca.edu.

Photo by Bill Truslow