I was recently able to sponsor a summer intern for college credit at Moravian College. Her assignment was to prepare  a first draft of the strategic plan for MOCEANS CIL.  Kayla’s description of her experience follows.

Kayla Contreiras’ 20

Major in Economics

Internships with MOCEANS

Where are you from and where was your internship(s)?

I am from Easton, Pennsylvania and my internship was in Long Branch, New Jersey.

What was the focus of your internship? What was your role?

The focus on my internship was learning how construct a 5 year strategic business plan for a small not for profit organization.  I also learned how to complete a SWOT analysis along with other business skills.

What was your biggest take away?

This experience reassured me that I am studying the right major!

What did you enjoy about your internship?

I enjoyed the people I worked with and the skills I learned that I can use forever!  I also enjoyed the location of being very close to the beach!

What was something that surprised you about your experience?

I was surprised about how much I enjoyed learning about all that goes into creating a 5 year business plan and learning how to read financial statements.

How long was your internship and what were your hours like?

My internship lasted 15 weeks in the summer totaling 70 hours.  I worked once a week for 8 hours. Often times I was given assignments to do at home and throughout the week as long as it would total 8 hours.  I only visited the Long Branch office a total of 6 times throughout the 15 weeks.

How was your relationship with your internship supervisor?

My internship supervisor, Dr. Koscinski and I worked closely together.  He made himself available through email and answered frequently. We were in touch a great amount through the week about assignments and any questions I had.

How was your relationship with other interns and/or other employees?

Everyone was very helpful and welcoming!  They were all very eager to help me complete my project. I also really enjoyed the environment at MOCEANS.

What would you tell other students about doing an internship? Any other advice?

Definitely apply for internships because it is an amazing learning experience.  You learn a great amount of business skills that you can take with you into the real world.  It also helps build your resume!

How did you hear about and obtain your internship experience?

I was a student of Dr. Koscinski and he mentioned he would be posting some internships through the school in class one day.  I was applying for internships on HoundHireLink and saw it listed. It was convenient because I had family who I could stay with in Long Branch when I needed to be in the office.  The location was probably something that threw many people off but drew me to apply.

Do you believe your experience will benefit you in finding other internships or a future job?

Definitely! Making a business plan is considered a skill that not everyone has these days.  It is not something that is taught in school however I think it should be! I can now list this skill on resumes which I think will be very useful to future companies.