Name:Aubrey Livi

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: Brinkbit Inc.

Position Title: Marketing Strategy Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s):Sociology/Economics

Work Term:Summer 2018

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.

My Marketing Strategy Internship was with Brinkbit, a software service provider who specializes in game development. It's an exciting field to be a marketer in as competition is fierce, niche positioning is key, and the core technologies are a rapidly shifting landscape. My responsibilities in that role included researching and preparing reports on user acquisition strategies for competing brands, planning and implementing acquisition campaigns for sales, analyzing the effectiveness of completed campaigns to refine future efforts, and writing editorial content and creating graphics and animations for social media marketing and branding purposes.

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?

This was actually my second semester interning with this company; I was honored to be invited back to work with them again.

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?

Because the company is small, I had a large degree of creative freedom and direct influence on company strategy. This allowed me to gain the hands-on experience that will be necessary to jump-start my career.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

Marketing and strategic branding is extremely important, especially in a buyer's market. It has been my pleasure to help Brinkbit position itself in such a way that it appeals directly to its target market without excluding more general sales.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Network! "It's not what you know, it's who you know," is an accurate adage.

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Want to be the next Intern of the Week? Make sure to fill out this form and stay tuned. New interns are announced every Friday!

In case the 20- degree weather hasn’t clued you in, it’s almost winter. Which means it’s almost winter break. Which means we have one full week of classes left, and I don’t know about you guys, but I am mildly freaking out. So, with the 1.5 weeks of classes before finals week, how should you be spending your time?

If you’re the kind of student that has very few exams and  final projects left to do, congratulations. I’m very jealous. But, you’re in a spot where you can spend some serious time thinking about what you want to do over the summer. Maybe you’re waiting to hear back from industry internships; maybe you’re getting ready to apply for research positions. Whatever it may be, follow up on those emails, send out those resumes, make a spreadsheet to keep track of it all, and revel in the glory of being able to relax while your fellow students are running around like chickens with their heads cut off.

If you’re the kind of student that has a bunch of exams, but feels like the workload is under control, good job. That being said, don’t substitute comfort for complacency. Make sure you know what assignments you have to complete and exams you have to study for. Career-wise, this isn’t the time to throw all your effort behind getting a summer job, but that doesn’t mean to slack off entirely. Maybe go to a few events during free hour, and definitely respond to any recruiters reaching out to you. If you have a few extra minutes here and there, check Linkedin. But your top priority should be securing the best possible grades over the next few days.

If you’re the kind of student wondering how they are going to make it to winter break without imploding from stress, we’ve all been there. For the next 2.5 weeks, put worries about summer work completely out of your head. The only thing you should do is respond to emails and phone calls. You’ll have plenty of time over winter break to schedule interviews and apply for positions. But right now, make a list of everything you have to get done, get off myUMBC (I appreciate the readership, but not the procrastination), and get started. The more you do, the more manageable things will seem.

Name:Shannon Cole

Internship, Co-op or Research Site: U.S. Food and Drug Administration

Position Title: ORISE Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s):Biology

Work Term:Summer 2018

Tell us about your internship, co-op, or research opportunity, including your day-to-day responsibilities.

My internship at the FDA included a combination of data mining and laboratory methods research to monitor post-market drug quality. On a day-to-day basis, I conducted assays such as Reverse Phase Ultra High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (RP-UHPLC) and Microcapillary Electrophoresis sodium dodecyl sulfate (µCE-SDS) while working in the lab. These assays allowed me to obtain the protein characterization profile of the drug antibodies. In the same day, I usually transitioned over to attending planning meetings for current projects, and shifted again to data mining and searching for post-market drugs in the database. I worked on a collaboration between the FDA’s Office of Surveillance (OS) and Office of Biotechnology Products (OBP) to develop rapid techniques for characterizing monoclonal antibodies (mAbs) that are used in therapeutic drug products. By obtaining characterization profiles of mAbs, OS is better able to regulate manufacturing firms to maintain product quality to ensure the safety of consumers.

Describe the process of obtaining your position. When did you hear of the position and submit your application?

I heard of the position in the early Spring semester. I found a listing on UMBCworks and sent in my resume only. I was contacted by my mentor in March and she set up an interview. She asked me to fill out an official application through zintellect. I filled out the application the same day and had an interview with her a few weeks later. She notified me the next week that I had gotten the internship. In a previous semester, I utilized the Career Center’s resume reviewing help to improve the content and appearance of my resume. I think this clearly had an impact on my marketability to recruiters!

What have you enjoyed the most about your position or organization?

I have greatly enjoyed working at the FDA this summer because I am constantly learning new things and developing new skills. There is always something that needs to be done and the ORISE internship program is very rigorous. I have appreciated the high standards I am held to because I know my mentor is teaching me the skills that will make me successful in a career later down the road. The FDA is a very interdisciplinary and multifaceted organization and I am constantly impressed by the multitude of people, jobs, and projects at the agency. Coming from a Biology background, I have been able to develop new skills that are directly and indirectly related to my major, such as laboratory techniques and data mining. By training me in a variety of settings, fields, and skill sets, the FDA internship program has made me into a more well-rounded professional for both an academic setting, and for when I enter the workforce.

How do you believe you have made an impact through your work?

I believe I have made an impact through my work because the laboratory techniques I have studied and the database work I have done contribute to improving the FDA’s regulatory influence when monitoring post-market drug quality. In this way, my work benefits the public by assessing drug quality to ensure patient safety and promote public health.

What advice would you give to another student who is seeking an internship or similar experience?

Always go to the interview. Even if you are unsure if the job is right for you, always interview. At first, I was skeptical the position fit my interests for a summer internship, but the interview allowed me to find out more about the organization, job duties, and staff. After seeing the campus and meeting the people in person, it was much easier for me to see myself working there. By the end of my time at the FDA, I found I had learned so much and gained so many valuable experiences. My internship experience has greatly influenced my future career goals and taught me skills that I would not have learned in a classroom.

Shannon has since accepted a full-time offer to continue working with the FDA after she graduates in December.

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Are you a freshman? Do you want to get your Masters or Ph.D.? Are you looking for a summer job in your field? Do you want to go into academia? If the answer to any of these questions is yes (or even if it isn’t), you should consider applying for research programs over this summer! I did one between my freshman and sophomore year. It was an amazing opportunity. I got to make professional connections in my field, work under a mentor on one specialized project, and explore possible career paths. It’s a lot of fun and a great alternative to the more traditional industry internship.

So, what are summer research programs?

They are typically 12 weeks, starting in late May and ending in early August. You live on site and work every day on your own project. At the end of the summer, you present your research to your peers and other professionals! By the end of the summer, you’ve learned an incredibly specialized skill (mine was virtual reality in a web browser), and have a great experience and project to add to your resume.

But Emily, you might ask, this sounds very STEM-y. And you’re right; there are a lot of STEM opportunities (like this one, where you research space robotics). But there are also a wide range of non-stem positions to explore. Maybe you can study behavior at College Park. Maybe you want to study population health at Brown. There are so many choices; don’t discount research just because you don’t think there are options available for you.

If you’ve made it this far, you’re probably at least a little interested. So what now? As a rule of thumb, most research program applications open around now (what a coincidence) and close around February or March. That means you have all of winter break to work on your applications without having to sacrifice finals studying! When you’re looking to apply, be sure to check out the Office of Undergraduate Research website. They have a huge list of all available programs and a step by step guide to getting your first offer.

Finally, before you apply, be sure to stop by the Career Center to get your resume and personal statements reviewed! And once you land a research internship, be sure to make the most  of it (and add it to your UMBC transcript) by signing up for the Career Center's Intern Success Practicum. The Practicum is zero-credit, free of cost, and can often be paired with a for-credit internship or research course.

Good luck, and have a great Thanksgiving break.

Representatives from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law will be on campus on Monday, December 3rd and Tuesday, December 4th to hold informational interviews at the Career Center.

SIGN-UP for a 30 Minute Informational Interview time slot TODAY

Come meet with a representative from the University of Maryland Francis King Carey School of Law for an informal interview.