Supply Chain Management
Supply Chain Management Internships
Torie Timmers, Supply Chain Management Intern, Phillips Medisize
Obtaining my internship: I obtained my internship through networking; my internship is located in my hometown of Phillips, WI so I networked in both the Oshkosh area as well as the areas surrounding my hometown. It is important to attend events such as Networking Night and the Career Fair, but it is just as important to network with professionals outside the Fox Valley region. This kept my options open and I was able to choose the location I wanted to intern in.
Connecting with interns: During my internship, my company provided an “Intern Day” for all the interns in the seven company locations (locations within Wisconsin and Minnesota). All the interns were able to come together and share experiences and advice with one another. Being able to communicate and work with other interns is an important aspect of the internship experience. These individuals are experiencing the same learning experience as you; each intern was able to teach me something new that only aided in my professional development. Not only this, but networking with other interns is a great way to make connections all over the state.
Advice for those searching for internships: A piece of advice I would give to those searching for an internship is that you have options all over- not just in Oshkosh. Whether your dream is to have an internship in California, or Northern Wisconsin, networking with individuals from all over is going to be important. I know a lot of people tell you to network and because we are in the Fox Valley, we tend to network with a certain region of people. My one piece of advice is to network with professionals ALL over.
Knowledge and skills learned: The most important thing I learned while interning is that all our business majors are very intertwined within a business. While you may be a marketing major, you need to know about accounting too. The classes they have us take in business school that are not directly correlated with our majors will indeed assist us in the future. I have learned so much about my own major along with all the other majors as well through my internship.
Value Added: As in many other businesses, many of the individuals who work at Phillips Medisize have been there for 20+ years. Coming in as an intern, I have a fresh perspective to bring to the business. We also have years of computer experience. Many of the experienced workers have way less experience in dealing with technology of this decade. We bring an element of innovation to the business. Be proud of the new techniques you bring to the table, and assist your company where your skills and knowledge can be used.
Tim Moffitt, Operations Intern, Speedway
Bio: My name is Tim Moffitt and I am going to be a senior in the fall here at UWO. I am a Human Resource Management Major and was able to be in an Operations internship with Speedway over the summer. I had the opportunity to travel to Indianapolis for the duration.
Alternative ways to find internships: Although UWO is great with providing resources to help us students find jobs/internships (i.e. Networking Night, Career Fair, Dining with Professionals, etc.) I encourage you to also use other resources. The app called GlassDoor lets the user sort through internships by area, major, etc. and I found a lot on there. I encourage you to start looking early in the semester, however, so opportunities don’t escape you. Personally, I found my internship on the Kelley School of Business site (Indiana University). I figured I would try and experience a different area, so found an internship with Speedway in Indianapolis. The Human Resource interns had already been selected, so the contact encouraged me to try for the Operations internship.
Connecting with other interns: As I was in Indianapolis for my internship, I didn’t know all that many people. I was able to connect with other interns in my position right at the beginning. Throughout the internship we had seen each other many times in meetings, leadership classes, and also working on projects and shadowing different positions together. I found this beneficial because we all formed a camaraderie and were able to approach each other with questions/concerns.
Typical day: My internship is very unique in that I have had several different positions throughout the duration of the summer. At first, I started out learning basic store operations at a Speedway location. Next, I began riding with a District Manager, who was in charge of 12 stores in an area. We dealt with a very wide range of issues and each day was different. I also had the opportunity of riding along with the Regional Marketing Representative, the Regional Human Resource Representative, and a Field Inspector.