Internship Spotlight: Mia Helsdingen, ADP

Mia Helsdingen '25 BSBA (Marketing & Spanish) was a Sales Intern at ADP in Minnetonka, MN.

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

My mom works in the sales field so I reached out to a bunch of her connections in the sales industry and tried to get connected to the office manager at ADP. Once I was in contact I gave her my resume and she reached out for an interview. It was about a 30 minute interview that went very well, and about a week later she reached out with a job offer. From this I learned that you really need to work the connections you have because it can take you a far way.

What was a typical day like?

A typical day at the internship started by arriving to the office at 8am. Some days we would have a team meeting where we went over everyones sales from the week, and expected sales for the future, as well as any additional updates. From there I would start cold calling prospects to try to set up meeting without sales reps. Then I would have an hour long meeting with every intern across the US. This meeting would vary day to day, sometimes it would be someone from ADP who is high up in the rankings giving us advice and telling them about our career, and other times it would be an educational meeting where they explain sales strategies, as well as teach us about ADPs products. After that I would be assigned with a sales rep and we would go drive around to different meetings, and I would listen in on deals close. During this time we would also go meet with accountants as well as drop in on different clients and prospects. 

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

During this internship we had the opportunity to earn a $500 bonus each week if you were in the top 44/140 interns across the US. It was based off the number of meetings you set. This competition was very motivational because you had to improve your cold calling skills in order to have a chance at winning the bonus. It was a very close competition every week, and you had to work hard to win, but it was extremely beneficial because I learned how to handle different situations and rejections. I was able to win the competition, and I was so thankful they had this competition for the interns because it was very rewarding for all the hard work everyone put in.

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

The biggest advice I have for someone looking for a sales internship is that you have to work hard if you want to see positive results. There is a lot of freedom with sales internships, and jobs in general, so what you put into it, is what you will get out of it. Another piece of advice I have is that you will see a lot of rejection in this job, especially with cold calling, but you have to learn to not take anything personally. It takes time to learn different strategies and techniques for cold calling making sales, but once you get the hang of it the job is very rewarding and you can have so much success.

Did you feel supported by the company or organization you worked with?

I felt very included at this company. Although I was just an intern, and I wasn't in the data for sales, I was still included in all the team meetings, and events we had outside of the office. I had a manager who was always there for me if I had questions, and I felt like everyone at the office was there to help me learn. I was very thankful that sales reps were willing to take me along with them to all of their sales meetings, and time time out of their day to make sure I understood everything.