Brenton Adelson ‘14 completed 3 internships during his time at the Barney School. During the summer of 2013, he interned at Chase Technology Consultants, a technology staffing company in Boston. Brenton wrote blogs while he was there and in his final blog, he had some general advice for interns and he discussed what he learned while at CTC. It is reprinted below and can be found on the CTC web site.
To everyone at CTC, and to the readers of our intern blog Destination: CTC,
I know that some people struggle to find the value in their unpaid internships. Perhaps that’s because the experience you can gain from them is invaluable.
Theory, or what you learn in class, can only prepare you so much for the real world. Experience is necessary to succeed, and sometimes the cost to attain it is an unpaid internship. You may have to forgo that paycheck for a little while – especially if you are trying to break into an industry that you don’t have prior experience in – to get your foot in the door. And so every person looking to launch or re-start a career has a choice: a fuller bank account or a more impressive resume.
The internship experience really is what you make of it. I’ve learned that an internship is an opportunity not only to make an impact on the company, but to build character. Every internship – and job, really – will have tasks that you may not enjoy or that you view as busywork. How you tackle them, whether with smiles or complaints, speaks volumes about who you are and who you could become. In my experience, proving you’re a team player willing to do tasks that appear menial paves the way to more high-order tasks (Although in my experience, everything you do has a purpose. If you’re not sure what it is or the impact it’ll have on company operations, ask!). Enthusiasm will get you far, and hard work and dedication never goes unnoticed or unrewarded.
And so I am writing to all of you to say farewell, but above all, thank you. I knew when I first saw the ad for the Staffing Assistant Intern position back in June that CTC would be an incredible opportunity for me, and I couldn’t have been more thrilled when I was giving the opportunity to intern here. CTC honestly exceeded all of my expectations, and my internship experience here has been, is, and will always be instrumental to my professional career. It may be the end of my internship here at CTC, but for me, it’s also a new beginning. I’ll be bringing the skills I’ve attained and the lessons I’ve learned back with me to the University of Hartford and to my future employers.
This coming fall marks the beginning of my last year of undergraduate study, after which I hope to start a career in human resources. In the short time I was here at CTC, I learned an immense amount about, and gained tremendous experience in, the staffing and recruiting industry within the technology space. I appreciate that every day of my internship was different, giving me the opportunity to experience business management and the full sales lifecycle. I executed lead generation campaigns, which encompassed sourcing for potential candidates and clients; writing, coding, and posting job ads; updating and managing job boards and the company’s CRM; and assisting with passive recruitment. I contributed to internal and external marketing efforts. I collaborated with high-profile employees to assist in business operations. I shadowed Staffing Specialists to better understand the recruitment process. I was involved in human resources decisions, and had the opportunity at the end of my internship to contact, review, and interview candidates for CTC’s fall internship program.
Looking back and seeing how involved I was in the business just makes me realize I never was just another intern, and appreciate the internship even more. I definitely feel that I accomplished a lot in the month I was here. I’m leaving CTC with the knowledge and satisfaction that everything I’ve done during my internship has had and will continue to have high-impact on the work of the Staffing Specialists.
I will forever be grateful for the insight that I’ve gained into business administration and marketing from Jared, Tristan, and Caressa; recruiting and client relationship management from all the Staffing Specialists; and teamwork and collaboration from fellow interns Istvan, Rebecca, and Ryan. I’m going to miss all the people that I’ve gotten to know here at CTC, and the passionate and harmonious culture I was warmly welcomed to and integrated in. You’ve all shown me how to be a better employee, and how critical a positive and encouraging atmosphere is to work happiness and professional success.
And so to everyone at CTC, thank you for an unforgettable work environment and experience. I feel truly blessed to have been able to intern for a reputable staffing firm and learn from such amazing people.
Best,
Brenton
Brenton continued his real world experiential education during the Fall ’13 semester at ESPN as a Statistics Associate, updating the ESPN website in real time during the football games. He graduated Spring 2014.