Name:Madeleine Songer

Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Black Hills Information Security

Position Title:Content and Community Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s):Media and Communication Studies, Minor in Entrepreneurship 

Current Class Level:Sophomore

Work Term:Spring 2020

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

At Black Hills Information Security I have gotten the opportunity to create visual guide instructions to the hit card game, Backdoors & Breaches. In addition to this, I get to perform daily administrative tasks that include organizing who we ship merchandise to, interacting with thousands of webinar attendees, and attending meetings with supervisors, other members of the content and community team, and our company founder.  

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

Dr. Snyder reached out to the MCS department on December 18th!  So, I gave it a chance, and submitted my cover letter and resume on December 23rd.  I heard back from Jason Blanchard on January 6th.  On January 6th, I had my first phone interview with Deb Wigley. The first interview went well, so I then had a phone interview with Jason Blanchard. After having another good interview, I qualified for the intern challenge. The Intern Challenge had three components:

1. Watch “How to Social Engineer Your Way Into a Dream Job” by Jason Blanchard

2. Identify two dream jobs, and locate two recruiters for each of those companies

3. Find Jason’s personal email

After the challenge, the pool of candidates went from nine to three. On Wednesday, January 26th, I had my final, and in-person interview at Oca Mocha in Arbutus. Deb and Jason both came, and after a few short discussions, they taught me how to play Back Doors & Breaches. This became the game that would shape my internship. I was hired on February 6th, and began working February 23rd.  To help me with this process, I had my resume reviewed initially last year, and I used practice questions to help with the interviews.

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

I've loved having to learn about working remotely, and meeting deadlines for projects. 

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

I believe I've made an impact through my work because I was able to provide hundreds of thousands of people with visual instructions to a card game that will make it much easier to learn how to play. 

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

My advice would be to take every opportunity you get!  I didn't think I would be ready for an internship as a sophomore on top of being on UMBC's Varsity Swim Team, but it has been a fantastic experience!

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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 Monday!

Name:Samuel Bailor

Internship, Co-op or Research Site:Leidos

Position Title:Software Developer Intern

Major(s)/Minor(s):Computer Science

Current Class Level:Senior

Work Term:Summer 2020

*Don’t miss UMBC CONNECTS: Leidos, a virtual recruitment event on Wednesday, October 7, to learn how you could land an amazing, career-relevant opportunity like Samuel’s!

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

As a Software Developer Intern, I was developing software everyday. I created two Python applications including GUI and backend, as well as several Excel macros. All the software that I created was aimed at improving productivity by providing colleagues with automation. I created multiple programs that searched through documents, databases, and excel spreadsheets to present the user with the data that was most meaningful to them. I had to research new data science and GUI libraries, conduct meetings with the intended users, and create code that could be developed by others when I was gone.

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

When I felt like I was ready to apply for internships in my sophomore year of college, I was set on applying to as many companies as it took. I had seen UMBCworks mentioned in some emails and figured I might as well get access to it. To get access to UMBCworks I had to get my resume approved by the career center, so I set up an appointment and brought in my resume. The resume approval appointment actually completely changed my resume for the better. The staff member I met with, Jennifer Heilman, pointed out all of the weak points and suggested how to improve it! After approval, I began applying to positions in UMBCworks as well as attending the Spring 2019 career fair. The interactions I had at that career fair brought me to a point where I received two offers, one from General Dynamics Information Technology and one with Leidos. To prepare for both interviews, I used software suggested by the Career Center, Big Interview. This interview preparation course was extremely helpful and I got offers for both positions. I ended up accepting the Leidos position and sticking around with the company for two internships!

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

Seeing how the work I do in my major can be applied to the industry, as well as learning new things from the industry that simply can't be taught in school.

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

The multitude of automation software that I created for Leidos saved my colleagues many hours of manual searching and processing, making their lives easier and making the company more profitable.

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

First, you should build a strong academic foundation that can be translated into a great resume. UMBC is a tough school and if you do well, recruiters will notice you. You must also believe in yourself and really force yourself to do what you need to do to reach your goal. I applied to over 30 internship positions and only got interviews for two, but that's how I started my career!

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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 Monday!

The UMBC Career Center is committed to supporting all UMBC students, from first-year students to those pursuing advanced degrees.  Even though we are working remotely, we have shifted all of our services and events in creative and technology-focused ways. The Career Center continues to offer many career and industry events to support you in your job search and career development.  Get started today!

Enter to win a $100 Amazon gift certificate, to be rewarded to one lucky UMBC student for participating in Fall 2020 Career Center events. To learn about rules of eligibility and to enter, click here.

The deadline to enter is December 8th at midnight. The drawing will be held on December 9th.   One student will be chosen at random. The lucky winner will be emailed to claim the prize.

Event attendance will be verified.