Internship Spotlight: Rob Hayer ’19
What are you doing this summer? We asked rising second-year MBA students to check in from their summer internships, where they are applying the lessons of their first year at Yale SOM.
Rob Hayer ’19
Internship: Google, London, United Kingdom
Hometown: London, United Kingdom
Favorite Yale SOM Class: Innovator
Favorite professor: Jake Thomas
Clubs and affiliations: Graduate affiliate to Davenport College, CDO career advisor, member of Yale SOM Soccer and Yale Club Tennis
Favorite Yale SOM community event: SOM Serves week
Favorite New Haven eatery: Mecha
As an MBA intern at Google, I am a financial analyst in the marketing finance team, part of Europe’s financial planning and analysis group. The role is a compelling mix of strategic and commercial thinking, financial analysis, and data analytics. We aim to be an innovative partner to marketing to “manage, measure, and multiply” their campaigns and initiatives, ultimately to maximise shareholder value. The team is dynamic and a lot of fun.
I have had three main summer projects: the first was to look into the marketing procurement system in EMEA, garner key learnings from the data and the key decision makers, and identify any areas for improvement alongside an implementation team. I received three peer bonuses (internal recognition) for my work. My second project looked at in-store fixtures, quantifying sales uplift and ROI. My third project focused on the ads marketing side of the business, giving guidance on how to apply budget to highest opportunity areas to drive growth. It has been intense work but very gratifying.
A highlight of the work has been interacting with many different stakeholders across the business and getting to present my findings to senior executives. I’ve found at Google it is encouraged to take the initiative and drive processes forward; being proactive is commonplace, and it’s been a highly engaging environment to be part of. Always coming to people with potential solutions can be challenging; one of my colleagues talked of the need for “multi-step, autonomous problem-solving capabilities.”
I have also been able to partake in a host of other activities, such as those at the EMEA Business Finance Offsite (where, inter alia, we thought deeply about what it means to be a trusted advisor), lots of social activities, and of course making use of Google’s amazing on-site amenities, such as the yoga classes. Another highlight was a team outing with our marketing business partners to Wimbledon to watch the tennis. The commitment to work-life balance and wellbeing has been very healthy.
Going to Dublin for Noogler Orientation was another high point. I got to meet a diverse set of Googlers from all parts of the business, from creative writers to engineers. In marketing finance we get a really good view across all product areas of the business. The growth, scale, and complexity of the business have made it a fascinating place to be; the quantity and quality of talks and trainings have been inspiring. From a personal growth perspective, the level of feedback and focus on one’s career has been awesome. I’ve had regular, detailed one-to-ones with my manager and a chance to choose my projects. Moreover, everyone is a coffee away. All in all the 12 weeks have been a fantastic chance to grow, and I’m very grateful for that.