By: Cece Metzdorff, DePaul University marketing major ‘17

DePaul Diaries is a day-in-the-life blog series written by DePaul students. The series unveils DePaulians’ experiences as interns in their field of choice. Students share their honest thoughts about their experiences, what they learned as an intern and advice for students who are interested in the same field.

With perks like networking events, ongoing training opportunities, and even free beer, one might say I landed the dream summer internship. This summer, I’m filling the role as a Marketing Finance Intern for the crew that makes Miller Lite, Coors Light, and much more, right in downtown Chicago. I’m an Honors Marketing major with Finance and International Business minors, so the role is right up my alley. On a daily basis, I look at forecasting budgets for future marketing spend, analyze data to figure out our Return on Investment (ROI) for promotional packaging, and examine our contracts with sports teams and music festivals. So, yes, Excel is my new best friend.

I spent the first week of my internship at MillerCoors’ Milwaukee office for orientation where I got to tour the brewery, visit distributor and retail stores, attend a beer-pairing dinner, learn about the company history and the beer market, and even hear from C-level executives. Interns go through the same orientation as new full-time employees, which makes me very grateful to work for a company willing to invest so much in its interns. I really enjoyed getting to meet people from departments and locations all across the company.

During my first few weeks in the Chicago office, I sat in on several meetings with my supervisor to learn how the department functions. It’s great to be given a broad perspective of how my work will impact the entire company before getting into the nitty-gritty details, and to be treated as an employee rather than just “the intern.”

At MillerCoors, we are given many opportunities to enjoy the fun and inclusive company culture. In my first month as an intern, I participated in trivia, limited-edition beer tastings, a double-decker bus pub crawl, and so much more. This month, I will be making home-brew beer in the office with some of the other interns.

So, how did I land this opportunity? Thanks to the Career Center, it honestly felt as if the job fell into my lap. Don’t get me wrong, I wanted this job badly so I did my research and tried to nail my interviews. But, it never would have come to fruition if not for the team at the Career Center.

Here’s how it played out: I attended the Winter Internship Fair and talked to a representative from MillerCoors. After giving the representative my resume, I received an email from Handshake about a week later asking me to sign up for a time slot to interview with the company. I had no idea that you could sign up for interviews through Handshake, so pay attention to those emails! After my first interview at DePaul, I got a call for a second-round interview at the MillerCoors Chicago headquarters. I was then offered the job before spring break. (Another lesson for landing a summer internship is to apply early!)

Looking to land an internship of your own? If you practice your elevator pitch before the job fair, bring an updated resume, do your research before the interview, and send thank you emails, you’ll be golden! The Career Center is a great resource for help in all of those areas. I look forward to spending the rest of summer learning, growing, and enjoying some beer (responsibly, of course).