Major: Labor and Employment Relations and                                                             Human Resources and Employment Relations (M.S)                                                   Minor: Italian                                                                                                   Hometown: Commack, NY

How did you learn about this opportunity?

Many members of my major's faculty have told me about Liberal Arts Enrichment Funding and how many students have greatly benefited from it. They suggested I look into it to help fund some expenses I had during my summer internship in NYC. Also, I always get e-mails from the Career Enrichment Network that advertise applying for funding.

Tell us a little bit about your experience.

I interned with Mercer in NYC this summer. Mercer is a global HR consultancy that specializes in many HR functions such as: compensation, executive compensation/rewards, corporate communications, workforce analytics, HR transformation, talent strategy, and mobility. I learned about and worked on fun projects in most of these areas and was formally trained in many of these areas. I hope to receive an offer of full-time employment for post-graduation.

This experience really allowed me to transition into my second year of grad school with all of the valuable things I learned at my internship.

How did this experience impact you academically?

This experience really allowed me to transition into my second year of grad school with all of the valuable things I learned at my internship. Many of the HR functions that I learned about have directly carried over into all of the classes I am taking this semester and will hopefully make the courses easier for me! I'm taking a really challenging data analytics course this semester and I believe I already have a wide array of knowledge from my internship, especially being trained heavily in Excel and Excel formulas and shortcuts. I hope to be really successful in this challenging course and hopefully, if I get an offer of full-time employment with Mercer, I can also use what I learned in class to be successful in my future job. Additionally, I became more familiar with HR jargon that will undoubtedly help me here at Penn State for my final year of grad school.

What are your career goals and plans?  How did this experience impact them?

After having a summer internship in consulting, I have solidified my interest in consulting and decided it is the career path I would like to follow. As previously mentioned, I hope to work at Mercer after graduation. If I were to be hired there, I would be able to immediately start work and hit the ground running. I am now well-versed in the company and what it does and I'm very familiar with Mercer's practices. I believe this internship has set me up for narrowing down my professional interests and preparing me for the consulting world. I hope to really enjoy consulting in the long run and stay there for a large portion of my career. I would love to work at Mercer for many years and grow and excel in the very supportive and friendly culture that it provides to me.

Would you recommend this experience to other Liberal Arts students?

I would definitely recommend this experience to other Liberal Arts students with interests in consulting or anyone with interests of working in NYC. The enrichment funding is extremely helpful, as NYC is a very expensive place to live. It takes the burden off of worrying about finances and making the enrichment experience the best it could possibly be.