Getting further ahead
An internship supported by Memorial’s Husky Centre has provided a business student with a realistic view of running a business.
An avid volunteer, Kayla Hopkins is involved in groups such as NL Eats, MUN Hope and I Love Me Campaign.
“I love sharing ideas with people and taking actions to promote changes that need to be made [within my community],” she said.
Planning for the future
A full-time, fourth-year bachelor of business administration (BBA) student, Ms. Hopkins is also intrigued by how she can apply her knowledge and skills to help businesses.
“I may start my own initiatives later down the road but I know that I will use my studies and experiences to get further ahead in reaching my goals,” she said.
Ms. Hopkins learned about an internship program through the Husky Centre of Excellence in Sales and Supply Chain Management and recognized it would offer her the chance to look behind the scenes of the business world.
She completed a part-time internship with Eastern Composite Services in Winter 2021, assisting the company with duties related to business development and implementing customer relationship management (CRM) software.
Eastern Composite Services is a supply and service company specializing in the repair of equipment and parts for clients in the industrial sector.
“I assist with invoice processing, filing and data editing in the customer software database. This takes a substantial workload off [other team members] so they can focus on more important tasks. I also update the company’s customer contact list so that we can start inputting the new or revised info into the new software.”
Internship highlights
Ms. Hopkins says her work allows Eastern Composite Services to build better rapport with and meet the needs of its customers, thereby helping the company to work towards its growth objectives.
“An internship has given me a realistic idea of what I want to do after I graduate.” – Kayla Hopkins
The highlight of her internship was making great connections with her co-workers, who helped her better understand the daily processes that support company growth, she says.
She also gained a new appreciation for the amount of work it takes to develop ideas for a company and to put these ideas into action.
“There is a lot of hard work and ideas that people don’t realize are taking place. An internship has given me a realistic idea of what I want to do after I graduate,” she said.
“I also realize the importance of networking now, which will come in handy when I create new business relations in the future.” she added.
Ms. Hopkins is continuing her position with Eastern Composite Services into the summer.
Interested in hiring a business student to help grow your business? Contact Sarah Teo, manager, Husky Centre, at tteo@mun.ca for more information about wage subsidy programs.