Internship Spotlight – Kameron Shute, LinkedIn

Kameron Shute is a MIS and Entrepreneurship double major set to graduate in May 2020.  This summer he interned for LinkedIn as part of the Global Sales Organization in Chicago, Illinois.

How did you get this internship?

My college mentor through Eller ELITE works at LinkedIn and he helped me network internally and I took the opportunity and ran with it. Starting my freshman year, I had quarterly check-ins with four people and by the time that I interviewed as a Junior I was doing quarterly check-ins with eight people in the sales organization at LinkedIn. Having eight different people helping me prep for interviews was a huge help and alleviated much of the stresses of the recruitment process.   After I received my offer, the recruiter mentioned that my follow-up emails helped me differentiate myself from other candidates. At first, I had almost forgotten what I included in my follow-ups but after re-reading them I realized that I was actually providing value in addition to thanking them. I would start my follow-up emails with a unique title and go very in-depth on a topic that was covered in the interview and discuss some more points that I would’ve like to have gotten across if we had more time. Lastly, I would attach an interesting article that I had found that is relevant to the topic. I found that sticking to the follow-up email format was particularly useful once I was in the office over the summer.

What was a typical day like?

My days were awesome! My manager only required me to be at three meetings a week and gave me complete autonomy over my schedule outside of that. This allowed me to completely own my calendar and prove to her and the rest of the hiring team that I was capable of managing my own time while still completing necessary work. My summer project was an internal consulting project that revolved around efficiency within our global team. This meant that I was constantly on video chats with people in India, Ireland, New York City, London, San Francisco, and Singapore. Getting to talk to employees all over the world was such a great experience and something not many interns get to do. Each day was different and had unique challenges and that’s what made it so much fun.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

Halfway through the summer, we had a GSO intern summit where they brought interns from the San Francisco, New York, and Chicago offices together in Chicago to hold a sales intensive week and hold a sales competition. Getting to meet the other interns and participate in the competition was so much fun and something I will never forget.

What did you find most challenging about your internship?

The hardest part of my internship was the vagueness and uncertainty around my project. During the first week of my internship, my manager went over my project, and the scope of it was to “find efficiencies within our team and create solutions to scale them using currently available resources”. I immediately felt so lost and had no idea where to start, because the scope was so vague and I had no clue what an efficiency would look like in this instance. However, the more interviews with employees from around the world I conducted, the more I was able to comprehend what an efficiency looks like and deliver impactful solutions.

What advice do you have for other students looking for a similar internship?

Network! You’re only as strong as your network. Never be afraid to send a cold message on LinkedIn to find out about someone’s role or internship opportunities within a company. However, when you are cold messaging, make the message very personal and find a way that you can add value to that person.   If you are interested in my particular internship, message me on LinkedIn and I will be more than happy to help!

How did Eller prepare you for your internship?

BCOM 314 prepared me immensely for this summer. While I really learned a lot from presenting in BCOM, the thing that helped me the most was the process and rationale behind asking impactful questions that stand out to the recipient and show that you are on the court and paying attention.

Did your internship employer provide housing or transportation assistance?

Housing – my employer provided housing,Housing – my employer provided resources for me to secure housing and/or find a roommate

Transportation – My employer provided transportation or financially supplemented my transportation during the internship

Anything else you would like to share about your internship experience?

It was the best summer ever! Highly recommend applying to intern at LinkedIn.