Tell us about the internships that you’ve had in the past two summers.
Last summer, I completed an internship at BlueCross BlueShield of North Carolina, and the summer before I worked as an intern at both D.C. United, a major league soccer team, and the New York-based rock label, Artemis Records. I’m an economics major. That said, people sometimes expect that your experience will always be in financial services. But if not during college, when else would I have had the opportunity to gain experience in both the professional sports and the music industries?

What were some of the challenges you faced in your internship search?
For the most part resources from the Career Center got me started. For example, I spent a summer in the offices of Major League Soccer Champion, D.C. United – an internship that originally began with the click of a button on CareerSearch.

But in the world of music, things aren’t as straightforward as dropping off a resume on BlueDevilTRAK(now Duke eRecruiting) and hoping that someone is curious enough to want to know more about you. So the first thing I did was turn to DukeConnect to see if any former Blue Devils were working in the business. As it turns out, the few that I found were at major labels, not at the independent labels where I wanted to intern. I called a few folks who were willing to answer some questions I had and guide my interest. Despite their major label affiliation, they offered suggestions that were ultimately helpful in my search. It actually took about two months of phone calls and refusing to take “no” for an answer, but I finally did land a gig with Artemis.

How do you feel that these internships have helped you along your career search?
From day one at Duke, students are told to explore their interests, but many fear that they may be missing the ‘tracked’ path to traditional post-college jobs like banking and consulting if they commit to pursuing other interests when outside of school. At the end of the day, I may have taken the road less traveled to my job next year, but at least I can say I’ve taken advantage of all the exceptional opportunities that have come my way these past few years.

What advice would you give other students looking for internships?
Be relentless in your pursuit. If you really want something, it’s probably already there waiting for you.

What are your plans after graduation?
I will be working in investment banking...the last industry I thought I'd end up in after graduation. The firm specializes in mergers and acquisitions. It’s funny how things turn out sometimes.