By Sarina Adamo
Natalie Wong, 22, is a recent finance and accounting graduate from York University’s Schulich School of Business. Last summer, she applied for an internship at American Express. Her hard work, dedication and ability to learn new concepts quickly gave her a leg up when applying for a full time career as a Merchant Services Marketing Analyst, this summer. Wong spoke with us to share her experience with being an intern, the interviewing process and her new career.
I heard about the opportunity for the role of a Merchant Services Intern through my school’s career site. This entailed assessing the marketplace and identifying new opportunities that American Express (Amex) could undertake in order to have more small-businesses welcome the Amex card at their establishment.
For this particular position they were looking for someone with a strong background with numbers and analytics – I majored in finance and accounting which was a good fit for the role.
I was also involved with many extracurricular activities at my university including being a teaching assistant for a first year management class. I also helped organize a networking event for business students and recruiters. My role was to reach out to dozens of different companies and seek sponsorship for the event. This helped me stand out from the other applicants because my interviewer was familiar with the event.
I suggest that interns build their confidence and get comfortable speaking or presenting in front of people before applying to a large corporation like Amex. There are always so many different people to meet and presenting yourself well/not being afraid to network will really open many doors for you.
During the interview, be confident in what you have to say and find ways to make your past experience relevant to the role you are applying for. And also, don’t talk too fast! Just breathe!
The managers will probably ease you into your role when you first start as an intern. This generally entails meeting with different people from around the organization and getting to know the business. The workload comes with time so you’re never overwhelmed and people are always willing to help so you have great resources.
In our company, HR did a really great job of organizing events for us at least once a month which allowed us to get to know each other better. We often went downtown for dinner, went to a baseball game and had a welcome and farewell social where our managers were invited as well.
The most important thing is to network and really try to own the work that you do. Be proactive and don’t be afraid to go above and beyond what you are required. Often times, companies like having interns because they provide a different perspective to a lot of things so feel free to do your research and raise new concepts if the time is right.
Once again, HR was really supportive when trying to find a full time position that fits with your skills and interests. Interviews were set up with managers from different business units and allowed the candidate to explore many options.
The job so far is great! The new team is very supportive and helpful. I’m getting to see a whole new side of the business which focuses more on the marketing side of merchant acceptance.
You are definitely given much more responsibility and expected to contribute to a larger number of projects. Since the role is no longer for a short period of time (i.e. 4 month internship), there is a lot more commitment to the work as well. Even though I’m only 6 weeks into my new role, I’ve noticed that you are involved with many more meetings and get to interact with more stakeholders.
Natalie’s last piece of advice to interns: Have fun!
Sarina Adamo is a student at the University of Toronto.
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