Spending Spring Break as an Intern

Author: Emily Thaler

Instead of partying in Cancun or some other exotic locale, 12 sophomores spent their Spring Breaks shadowing Middlebury alumni through the Career Service Office's (CSO) Spring Break Externship program. The externships were designed to introduce students to a particular career field and make valuable contacts with Middlebury alumni. They also exposed the students to some of the more exciting jobs held by former Middlebury students.

Joseph Manganiello '04 shadowed Commissioner Adrian Benepe of the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation. He said of his experience, "Although my time spent with the Commissioner included attending a movie premiere, meeting Mayor Bloomberg and a luncheon at Gracie Mansion, I was glad to witness, despite the glitz and glamour that accompanies such a position, the passion that drives Commissioner Benepe."

CSO defines externships as "two-day enhanced job shadowing experiences that give Middlebury College sophomores exposure to the inner workings of a particular career field and valuable contact with Middlebury alums." This is the first year that CSO has organized an Externship Program for sophomores, as it offered externships during fall and spring breaks. Externships are offered at other times of the year as well, depending on the cycle of the sponsor's profession.

As one of five students externing at an auction house, Jennifer Barton '04 had the chance to see a live auction. This experience was one of the highlights of her externship. "The last day of my externship I went to an auction, and it was pretty incredible: it was really exciting to be there and to know what was going on. I was quite happy with the internship experience because it definitely surpassed what I had expected — I had no idea I would get to see an auction!"

Not all of the externships took place in New York: the other externships included WCAX-TV and Fresh Tracks Capital in Vermont, Modern Media in Connecticut and Loomis Sayles & Co. in Boston. Sotheby's, Christie's, the New York City Department of Parks and Recreation and the Cooper-Hewitt National Design Museum all sponsored externships in New York City.

Sponsors were encouraged to organize activities for the students that would provide them with insight into all aspects of a particular industry. Sponsors were urged to allow students to get involved in the organization, if possible, to further enhance the externship experience. Some of these activities included attending meetings or conference calls.

In the externships at Sotheby's, students took a tour of the building, which houses the entire New York branch of the company. They were exposed to both specialist and business departments, reflecting the academic and commercial sides of the art world.

Kirtley Cameron '95, an assistant vice president in business development who sponsored one of the Sotheby's externships, said, "The externship program seemed like a great opportunity for students to gain exposure to a professional environment, and for alumni to share their experience with these students. I hope seeing the day-to-day activities that make up specific roles within a business will help students make decisions about what they want to do, as well as give them an advantage when they are interviewing or corresponding with potential employers in any field."

The Spring Break program evolved out of last fall's DigitalBridges 2.0 Externship Program, when some of the same organizations volunteered to sponsor externs again. An additional goal of the Spring Break program was to help sophomores to focus their plans for internships during the summer and Winter Term.

Sophomores submitted their names for the externships three weeks prior to spring break and selection was done by a lottery. A student and an alternate were selected for each extern position. The selected student then submitted a statement about his or her goals for the externship, along with a resume. On choosing the sophomore class for this program, Assistant Director of Career Services Claire Tetrault remarked that "[it] was selected in order to expose them to career paths early on in their academic life. Such exploration is quite beneficial in the long term."

The sophomore externs returned to Middlebury with positive impressions of their externships. Barton noted, "I would strongly recommend this [program] to kids in the future."