September 01, 2020

By By Samantha Carpentiere ’20

This summer, 44 students from the Sigmund Weis School of Business participated in what Dean Matthew Rousu called “an awesome experiment.” They experienced internships with companies across the globe, all while working remotely.

Elizabeth Ludwig ’21, a luxury brand marketing and management and strategic communications double major, took her events management knowledge to Hire Space in London. At Hire Space, Ludwig developed social media content, conducted business development on LinkedIn, researched and developed reopening guidelines for the UK events industry — as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic — and further assisted with the development of the Saver Events Program that Hire Space started.

“I’ve learned quite a bit about how companies have tackled the pandemic and even assisted in tackling it firsthand [with Hire Space],” Ludwig said.

Also in London, Thomas Dinneny ’22, a finance and economics double major, learned the ins and outs of banking and finance advisory at Forte Markets. During his internship, Dinneny researched and analyzed various topics to provide consulting services for clients. Some of his projects included preparing a presentation that analyzed and compared the 2008 financial crisis and the 2020 COVID-19 crisis, and creating e-learning courses for clients on topics such as open banking and regulation technology (RegTech).

Meanwhile, across the globe in Asia, Sydney Santiago ’22, a marketing major, dove into digital marketing for Baxter International in Hong Kong. Santiago conducted marketing research and developed a marketing plan that would allow the company to expand their marketing outreach to new digital platforms.

“I have gained a lot of insight regarding the healthcare industry, as well as different aspects of digital marketing,” Santiago explains, “I was also able to enhance my communication, presentation and teamwork skills through this experience.”

Down under in Oceania, Ubaid Samadi ’22, a finance major, interned for one of New Zealand’s Big Four banks, the Bank of New Zealand. During his internship, Samadi created a research report on the development of small to medium enterprises in New Zealand and how to transition digitally to compete in a post-pandemic market.

“The internship has benefitted me immensely,” Samadi said. “I am prepared for a post-COVID world where everything is digitalized, and I am confident to enter the workplace now, more than ever.”

Ludwig, Dinneny, Santiago and Samadi all say their biggest challenge existed in the time difference between themselves and their coworkers. After much trial and error, Dinneny said, “I was able to set a schedule and manage my time so that I could surpass those struggles and become more efficient with my time and effective with my work.”