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Class is over for Allied Universal’s first annual Achieving Career Excellence (ACE) summer internship program. All program graduates have returned to school or entered the workforce with valuable real-world experience and a supportive professional network.
In June, a dozen college interns were welcomed into the Allied Universal corporate headquarters for the eight-week program. Though they had different educational backgrounds, they all had the same summer goal of learning firsthand from highly trained professionals in their desired fields. Internships were available in the communications, finance, marketing, sales, recruiting, human resources, strategy and operations departments.
During their summer at North America’s third-largest employer, they gained on-the-job experience working alongside their assigned, highly skilled department supervisors and mentors.
“There have been lots of opportunities to connect with people. The first one was my mentor Mahsa. She has been a great role model and has done a great job being my mentor,” explained Spencer, Allied Universal sales intern. “I also had the opportunity to learn in the field with business development managers, Brandon and Britain.”
The ACE summer internship program included career development workshops designed to help interns prepare for their professional careers.
“Leadership team members from across the organization came together to host different workshops for professional development,” said Jenna Smidt, Allied Universal corporate talent acquisition manager and former intern. “They went over topics such as critical communications, interviewing 101, resume and LinkedIn building, DE&I and professionalism in a meeting setting.”
There were also several networking opportunities during which the interns spent time learning from different people within the company.
“We attended an Angels’ baseball game with the CEO, CFO and other members of the C-suite. This was a great event for us to network with company executives and learn from their varied experiences,” said Reagan, Allied Universal marketing intern.
The ACE summer internship program didn’t just benefit the intern participants. Allied Universal benefitted from the interns’ fresh perspectives, bright ideas and youthful hustle.
“We had each intern present a functional project by the end of their program where they dug into a specific issue within the department they were working in,” Smidt said. “The interns presented their projects to senior leadership detailing the issue, their research and recommendations for improvement.”
The project required the interns to dig deep and apply different tools, skills, knowledge and experiences they gained during the program. Most recommendations were in the process of being implemented as summer ended and the interns packed up for the next step in their professional journey.
At the end of the program, two interns eagerly accepted full-time positions. With the departure of the other interns, it’s a little quieter around the Allied Universal offices. But they’ve promised to keep in touch and the bell will ring to begin the 2024 ACE summer internship program before you know it.
