While at Heller I’ve had the privilege of working as a Graduate Assistant with Heller Admissions, an opportunity that allows me to connect with prospective and admitted Heller students from all over the world. However, being in a city like Boston means that there are endless opportunities both on and off campus. Outside of Heller, I’ve been working as a re-entry intern for the Commonwealth Corporation, a quasi-government organization in Massachusetts that distributes state funding to foster youth development and strengthen justice-based projects. Because the opportunity is heavily based in program implementation, I’ve had the opportunity to apply my learning from Heller to the job!
As a first-year in the Sustainable International Development program (now named Global Sustainability Policy and Management), there’s a heavy emphasis on applied field methods (like Monitoring and Evaluation) and management (Planning and Implementation) – two classes that are required. At first, these classes may seem intimidating because of the various frameworks that you have to keep in mind, but once you learn how to differentiate betweens the diagrams, you start to enjoy the process. Additionally, it becomes even more engaging once you realize that these frameworks are used to solve global issues like food insecurity and environment concerns. It’s exciting to see how learning about theory of change, and stakeholder analysis can transfer into real-world situations.
At Commonwealth Corporation, interns are well incorporated into the team, and there’s plenty of time to be onboarded, and caught up on the ongoing projects before diving deep into work. Interns not only assist with projects, but are encouraged to bring in fresh ideas to the team, and have the chance to expand based on their individual interests. Because CommCorp is team oriented, students should keep in mind what role they need to take to be successful – this is key when searching for positions that align with your resume and interests.
For any opportunity, students should take advantage of resources like: the weekly career center newsletter, BConnect, and Handshake – all of which will help in securing internships, jobs, and building network connections. My advice to any student looking for a job is to build a brand by identifying what it is that you want to do, and you can start by asking yourself – What are your core values? Do you work well in teams or alone? Are you interested in advocacy work or do you prefer private corporations?
My last rule of thumb is to regularly update your resume and linkedin profile, as these are tools employers will use to get to know you better.