Creating a memorable and impactful experience

With internships being near and dear to her heart, colleague Susan, Vice President of Business Intelligence for North America, shares her experience working with interns, explains the importance of internships, and offers advice for our upcoming summer interns.

For my team, we were lucky enough to get two interns in the Summer of 2022. These two individuals worked on automating some of the reports that houses all of our customer information and informs our team of scheduling activities based on when they should be serviced and how frequently. My team spent about 30 minutes to an hour every day pulling these reports, but one of my interns automated the process, shortening the time to seconds and enhanced the usability of the reports. That individual was able to convert to full-time hire upon graduation and has been a wonderful find from the internship program.

Internships allow students to zero in on what motivates and interests them in their work. Students may steer towards a specific role or function based on prior experience, an interest, and what kind of problems they are tasked with, but may need more information to decide on career fit. When you see a role you are interested in, it might mean something slightly different to that organization. With internships, it allows students to understand what those specific roles are and what a day in the life looks like.

Internships are a ‘try it before you buy it’ experience and that can go both ways. The benefit and expectations of an internship is for interns to learn. The experience you can get in three months is unmatched. You can learn more in that three months time than in a couple of years of intermittent study on a certain topic.

Make sure you ask questions. There is a wealth of information and knowledge out there, especially here at Rentokil Terminix. It’s about understanding the problem statement, not about filling in the blank or working a task sheet. It’s about why you are actioning something and who’s going to use that information. Internships are invaluable. It guides you on how to navigate professional environments, meaning there will be deadlines but it’s not like a class where you have a very guided workflow or curriculum. Ask as much as you can to understand the organizational culture and the day to day. It’s about learning how to navigate the professional environment successfully, especially in this virtual world. You don’t have those water cooler opportunities, so how do you make them? Take that initiative, go ask if it’s ok to set a meeting with someone later that week. My interns were really appreciative of having that real world experience in that way as well.