Internship Drives College of Charleston Student's Career Forward

^{Photos by Catie Cleveland}

How do you navigate getting an internship when you don’t really know how to go about it and your parents, who emigrated to the U.S. from Poland when you were 5 years old, also aren’t familiar with the process? For Julia Skladzinski, the answer was simple: Apply for the Career Center Internship Award.

Skladzinski, a rising senior at the College of Charleston, had received emails about the program from the Career Center and read positive posts from past recipients. She determined the program offered exactly what she needed to land the ideal internship and was thrilled when her application was accepted.

“I have been so grateful to have a support system through the Career Center and the other award recipients,” says the international business major who double-minors in marketing and international studies. “You can really feel alone during the internship search process, but with the program, I had people who had my back and believed in me.”

Skladzinski really liked that the program participants came from different disciplines and were on different paths because of their interesting perspectives and ideas. She also appreciated the training Kristin Wichmann, associate director for experiential learning, provided.

“School is one thing, but communicating with people and applying for jobs requires a lot of different skills,” says Skladzinski. “Kristin showed us how to present ourselves and had recruiters come in to share what they look for and what stands out.”

“The goal of the Career Center Internship Award program is to assist students with professional development while helping to eliminate potential financial barriers for those who would otherwise may not be able to pursue a summer internship,” explains Wichmann. “Students participate in professional development trainings that focus on career readiness skills, one-on-one advising sessions, networking events and mentoring sessions.”

Using the skills she had developed, Skladzinski applied for some highly competitive internships. While she had started the multi-step process with some companies, they had fizzled out. Still, she persevered and came upon an internship with Omnisight, an AI tech company, on Handshake, the Career Center’s platform for jobs and internships.

“I felt the internship with Omnisight was a perfect match, especially when I saw that it was my management professor’s company,” says Skladzinski. “I immediately sent him an email to set up a call. I wanted to confirm the internship would be a good fit for me. We shared our goals and felt we were on the same page.”

Every few weeks Skladzinski followed up with Aaron Pennell (pictured below, center image), Omnisight’s chief revenue officer and her professor for management and organizational behavior. She connected with him on LinkedIn and would inquire about his AI posts. When it came up on her feed that Pennell was attending DigSouth, she asked him about it. Pennell invited her to accompany him to experience the conference firsthand. The opportunity helped her learn even more about the AI world.

Skladzinski’s efforts paid off; she received the internship.

“Julia really took the initiative and showed she had a passion for the internship,” says Pennell, an adjunct member of the College’s management and marketing faculty. “She had an eagerness to learn and a level of professionalism that made her stand out.”

As an intern, Skladzinski more than delivered – and gained invaluable experience at the same time.

“Julia handles our digital and print marketing and works with our customer management database,” says Pennell. “She is a real self-starter. She created a marketing plan and has been able to work independently with feedback.”

For Skladzinski, the internship is providing her skills for the future: “I gained experience working with higher-level leadership, developed marketing skills, collaborated with teams, learned more about search engine optimization and discovered what it’s like to work with a business startup.”

Another valuable aspect of her internship has been building her network.

“I have really had an individual experience at Omnisight,” she explains, adding that she especially enjoys working with Pennell. “He includes me in meetings and introduces me to people. I learned so much and developed connections, which will be helpful when I start my job search.”

Most importantly, Skladzinski’s experience has confirmed her desire to go into marketing.

Just goes to show how valuable an internship can be.