How I Spent My Summer (Internship)

Ben Freedman '15

Company: Google in Mountain View, California
Position: Real Estate and Workplace Services Graduate Intern, Real Estate Innovations Program

“I interned with a newly established Innovations Program focused on identifying and evaluating emerging technologies for Google's office spaces to enable happier, healthier and more productive environments. My job was to develop the team strategy and operational and resource models. I had a terrific summer learning about organizational behavior, corporate real estate, user/occupant experience, sustainable operations, spatial design, and how to create a program strategy from the ground up. Google announced some new initiatives related to the real estate portfolio during my internship so it was an exciting few months.”

Jean Thomas '15

Company: Yum! Brands in Louisville, Kentucky
Position: Treasury Intern

“Sometimes bold moves are required to achieve great results. Moving to the Bourbon soaked frontier town that is Louisville Kentucky certainly qualified as bold. While I was miles away from the Big Apple or Silicon Valley, I was happy to gain experience at a fast paced, complex, and iconic global enterprise. Who knew delivering fourth meal required so much innovation?”

Katie Molteni Muir '15

Company: Johnson & Johnson in New Brunswick, New Jersey
Position: Human Resources Leadership Development Program Intern

“I developed a strategy for talent movements for the Johnson & Johnson Innovation Centers, which connect with the best science and technology in California, Boston, London, and soon to be in Shanghai. This involved conducting a needs assessment, external benchmarking, and plenty of brainstorming! During the summer, I described my internship to classmates as “Employee meets Innovator” – taking the HR perspective and trying to do something new and different within that space. My time at J&J was fascinating. I was pushed to think big and get outside my comfort zone. Since I worked in the nonprofit sector before coming to SOM, I also got a crash course in what it means to work for a global company and in how lessons from one sector might be applied to the work you do in another.”

Kesson Anderson '15

Company: Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle, Washington
Position: Postsecondary Success MBA Intern

“I attended Yale SOM to pursue a career that leverages public-private partnerships to drive education reform. Fortunately, as an intern at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, I had the opportunity to work with both venture capital investors and entrepreneurs to better understand how private-sector companies work with public institutions to innovate and transform public education and to identify how the foundation, which traditionally invests in the non-profit sector, can invest in and support these companies. The knowledge and skills I gained during my ten weeks at the Foundation will be critical to my long-term success as a leader in education.”

Paula Bentabol Pascual '15

Company: Covidien in New Haven, Connecticut
Position: MBA Summer Intern

“I interned at the Global Marketing Team in the Advanced Surgical Technologies division. I conducted a thorough market research and developed a business plan for an innovative project for the company.  It has been a great experience in which I had the opportunity to learn, observe, execute, and hopefully, add some value to the company. I go back to school taking with me all the lessons learned, good conversations and great memories.  I feel I developed a new skill set that will help me in my next job after school.  I know my internship at Covidien provides me with a great foundation to continue growing in my career.  One of the things that struck me most was the willingness of every member in the team to help me out with any question or doubt I had. They always made time for me.”

Susan Zhou '15

Company: PwC Advisory in New York City, New York
Position: Senior Associate Intern

“I had a fantastic summer with PwC, learning both about Consulting life on engagements and outside of engagements; while I mostly focused on engagement work, I also had the opportunity to conduct research and volunteer within the local community through the firm.  I loved that I had the opportunity to still focus on both business and society while with the firm, something that had originally drawn me to Yale SOM as well.”