Internship Spotlight – Rowen Fletcher, Transport Investments Inc.

Rowen Fletcher is a Pre-Business major set to graduate in 2023.  This summer he interned for the Transport Investments Incorporated.

What was the process for getting this internship, job, or summer experience?

After most opportunities for the summer of 2020 fell through, a family friend mentioned TII was looking to hire college and high school students as summer interns. I connected with a Senior VP at the company, and after speaking with him I knew I could learn a lot from this experience.

What was a typical day like?

I arrived at the office early, about 7:30 AM, I worked on updating contact information for most of the day. I’d take a lunch break around 1:00 PM. After lunch, I would try to spend time with executives and learn about their roles and experiences.

What was your favorite part of the experience?

My favorite part of the experience was getting to spend time with the CFO, Ron Carlson. He has 40+ years of experience in corporate finance. Any question I had he almost always had an answer to. He let me analyze data and sit in on meetings for a deal he had been working on.

If you worked on a big project, please describe it below:

The company hired interns this summer to help streamline their operations. Since the companies operations were national, I was responsible for updating the contact information for 25,000+ clients. Sometimes there would be duplicates of a client; their address or phone number would be wrong, etc. By streamlining this part of their operations, I will save the company time in the future from confirming this information.

What did you find most challenging?

This most challenging part of this job was finding ways to stay interested in a pretty repetitive role. As I said I updated information for over 25,000 clients over the span of 8 weeks. I mixed in meetings with the executives to make sure I continued to learn.

What did you learn?

I learned a lot. I learned how to handle myself in a corporate office. I learned that there are different ways to talk to different people. For example, I would conduct myself differently when speaking with the CEO than I would if I was on the phone with a trucker. I also learned everything I could about the operations of TII while I was there.

What advice do you have for other students looking for a similar experience, or advice for future students to be successful?

My advice for students looking for an internship is to talk to as many people as possible, and keep in touch with them. Don’t just reach out once and ask for an internship. Talk once a month and build rapport. My advice for students that have an internship is to not be afraid to do the dirty work. If you are looking for an internship after your freshman year, expect to be doing a lot of data entry. The key to getting the most out of your internship is to do more than what is expected, and to not be afraid to reach out to people you can learn from.

How did Eller prepare you for this experience?

My career coach Jeff Welter, the PDC, Eller Impact, and other Eller students helped prepare me for this experience. Through these different parties, I was able to develop professionally and as a result, I was prepared for my summer internship.

 Did you feel supported by the company or organization you worked with? Please share what they did to help you feel included.

The employees at TII were very welcoming. They were always willing to answer my questions, and teach me things about the company when an opportunity came up.

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

I think the relationships you build are equally important as the technical skills you learn.

How did the pandemic change or otherwise affect your summer plans?

A lot of opportunities fell through that I was working on. I was very grateful when this opportunity came up.