Each semester the Office of Career Services selects a group of students who excelled in their internship experience to participate in the College of Business Internship Panel. This semester the International Business Association (IBA) hosted the event on Thursday, February 19th. The Office of Career Services emphasizes the importance of networking with professionals and reminds students not to overlook networking with their own classmates who are tomorrow’s business leaders. Participating in the panel were: Laura Davila, Ruben Gonzalez, Citlalli Rojas, Ivan Dominguez, Debra Balsadua and Gabriela Rivera.
Laura Davila, an accounting junior, obtained an internship with Big 4 Accounting Firm, KPMT, by participating in the Inroads Internship Program. Laura was a summer 2008 intern with KPMG and has been invited to return to her internship in Houston in summer 2009. Although another Big 4 Accounting firm has expressed interest in Laura, she believes her loyalty to remaining with KMPG will pay off.
Ruben Gonzalez, international business major, interned with C.H. Robinson, a national logistics company with a local office in McAllen. Ronnie Garcia, Career Advisor with the Office of Career Services, recommended Ruben because of his proven determination towards succeeding in landing an internship. “I am very proud of Ruben’s accomplishments. I see a lot of students who come into my office and claim they are serious in finding an internship, but few follow through. Ruben was very consistent in following up with his progress of his internship prospects. He made multiple appointments to work on his resume, discuss career planning and setting up mock interviews before his interview with C.H. Robinson.” Ruben has interned with C.H. Robinson for past three consecutive semesters.
Citlalli Rojas is a recent finance graduate and is currently an agent with New York Life. Citlalli has transitioned from intern to profession seamlessly. A year prior to her graduation, Citalli planned to narrow her career choices by interning with a list of financial institutions. One of her top choices, New York Life, saw her potential and after a two-semester internship with the company, Citlalli accepted a full-time career offer there. Career planning is important when establishing a career and Citlalli feels she has found the right fit through New York Life.
Ivan Dominguez, marketing junior, has two internship experiences on his resume. During summer 2009, Ivan participated in the Dollar General District Management Internship Program. Although, Ivan’s internship experience was in the Rio Grande Valley, he had the opportunity to visit Dollar General’s national headquarters in Nashville two times. During fall 2008 and spring 2009, Ivan had a sports marketing internship with the RGV Vipers. He emphasized that both internships help him in developing his professionalism.
Debra Balsadua, a senior finance major and spring 2008 internship panel participant, discussed her latest internship experience with Procter & Gamble. Debra had previously interned with Toyota and with Summus Industries. “I am always excited to share my experiences with students,” says Debra. “I know at times I seem to lecture my classmates during my participation in the panel, but I only do it because I genuinely want to help them. In today’s workforce students aren’t guaranteed a job just because they have a degree, they need to work hard to prepare themselves. I have learned that communication, following-up and interviewing skills are necessary to succeed.” Debra has accepted a full-time offer from Procter & Gamble and will join them in Cincinnati after her May graduation.
Gabriela Rivera, a senior majoring in finance, interned this past summer with the U.S. Office of the Comptroller of the Currency (OCC). Based in San Antonio, Gabriela travelled around South Texas with professional national bank examiners and assisted them in auditing banks to ensure all transactions were accurately processed. Gabriela had previously interned with the Center of Public Priorities in Austin. Gabriela is interested in using her educational background to help the government regulate and audit banks as a national bank examiner for the OCC. Gabriela obtained her internship through on-campus interviews at the Office of Career Services.
The Office of Career Services encourages students to take advantage of the internship and career development resources offered by the department. Career Services is located on the 2nd floor of Student Services Building. Students may call (956) 381-2243 to set an appointment. Career Services supports all students and alumni from UTPA in finding the right opportunity.
