Many CEOs and executives will tell you that they didn’t learn how to get to the top by sitting in a classroom and taking tests. They will tell you that they learned the most by rolling up their sleeves, having hands-on learning experiences, building relationships early in their careers, and establishing a reputation as a smart worker.

Dana Drouillard at GM.

Dana Drouillard (BA Supply Chain Management, ’17) had an invaluable experience during her internship with General Motors

Hundreds of Broad students are putting this advice to work – literally – as they immerse themselves in summer internships at some of the world’s largest and most reputable companies. Mirroring the diversity of Broad’s student body, companies at which they interned ranged from Detroit’s Big Three to global financial consulting firms, from food manufacturing conglomerates to sports marketing agencies.

As students are admitted to Broad their sophomore year, they experience curriculum designed to prepare them with the depth of knowledge and breadth of skills to take on internships with progressively more responsibility. When they walk away from their summer internships, students take with them their first-hand experience as to what it takes to succeed, how to make an impact at any level in their professional careers, and what their individual strengths are as a Broad student.

To view the complete intern profile series, please visit the gallery on Broad’s Career Services page.

Highlights include:

Emily Allen (BA Marketing ’18): “Throughout my internship at Ford, I have learned that marketing is all about being adaptable. You may need to change your production allocation overnight because of new laws, or you may have one day to jump on a trend and push an ad. If you can’t quickly adapt to what’s going on in the world, the competition will mercilessly leave you behind.”

Peyton Pawlusiak (BA Business ’19): “At AbbVie, I have had the opportunity to take full ownership of an integrated business process that will help improve patient impact.  To do so, I have learned the importance of effective communication, cross-functional teamwork, and using and creating new IT platforms.”

Shawna Stewart (BA Accounting ’16): “With Ernst & Young, I have learned how to embrace different cultures and backgrounds in a professional setting, meeting new friends and professionals and learning about how they do business in their field of work.”

Nick Zaggy (MBA Marketing ’17): “I have learned the issues in operating a large-scale franchise company during my internship with Wendy’s: the challenges of national and international system launches, reaching conclusions and recommendations for action based on analytics of consumer survey data, managing business relationships with franchisees from all different walks of life, and the challenges of creating operational consistency across several thousand restaurants.”