Lessons Learned from Interning with a Fortune 500 Company

Summer internships are invaluable opportunities for college students. Whether you’re looking to gain experience within the corporate world or enhance your resume, internships are a great way to gain hands-on experience within the workforce. What is the difference when you work for a Fortune 500 Company? It’s Culture. It’s Networking. It’s Passion. This summer, I spent nine weeks working with Coca-Cola Consolidated. The lessons I learned throughout this experience will stick with me into job-searching in the future.

Lesson 1: The Importance of Culture

?Before joining Coca-Cola Consolidated, I was briefly educated on the importance of company culture. I had lectures in communications courses listening to professors talk about company cultures but never truly indulging in it. When I walked into the Coca-Cola Consolidated Corporate Office, this all changed.

On every floor hung their Purpose Statement (Pictured Below). And in every meeting the statement was mentioned, emphasized even. It was truly, exactly what the company stood for, and within the actions that every manager or business leader exemplified, they looked back to the purpose statement and they honored it. Culture was everything to them, it was why they stayed with the company. Understanding this made the experience so fulfilling, like I was a part of their common purpose. Culture is essential. Consider a company’s culture when you choose where to pursue your internship.

Lesson 2: The Impact of One Email

One of the most essential things I learned over the course of the summer was the impact of one email. At the beginning of my internship, I sat down with my manager, who encouraged me to meet with as many people/departments within Coca-Cola Consolidated as I could. Between meetings and projects, I spent time looking at organizational charts and sending emails to business leaders within the company requesting just 10 minutes of their time.

One of these emails landed me lunch with the Executive Vice President of Sales and Operations, Robert Chambless . My advice to those trying to build relationships within their company would be:

-?????? Schedule informal meeting with team members

-?????? Keep in touch through LinkedIn and email

-?????? Make a positive impression

-?????? Forbes explains when networking to start with your closet connections

?Building these connections was vital to the success of my internship.

?

Lesson 3: Say “Yes” to Every Opportunity

If you told me I would be attending a sustainability conference as a Corporate Communications Intern before my program, I probably would have looked at you and said, “you’re crazy”. When Esther C. Moberly , the sustainability director, came to me and asked me to attend the Carolinas Recycling Conference aside her, there was no doubt in my mind. Yes. Did I previously know anything about recycling? Well, no, BUT this was incredible way to learn. Although this wasn’t something I ever thought about doing, this experience was extremely invaluable to me.

Learning about the importance of plastics within our everyday lives was interesting, but my favorite part was learning about how Coca-Cola played such a large role within these initiatives . Saying “yes” to this small opportunity led me to tracking key recycling efforts within our company for our Internal Communications Director, Elizabeth Costa . If I hadn’t attended the conference, the likelihood of me working on this project was low. Doing something out of your typical workday may be daunting, but there is probably a reason you were trusted to participate. After this experience I learned to say “yes” to any and all opportunities.

Lesson 4: Be Comfortable Being Uncomfortable

Easily, the most vital thing I learned throughout my nine-week internship with Coca-Cola Consolidated was to step outside of my comfort zone. I had never left Columbus, Ohio, for anything except vacation, so moving eight hours away from my family was not easy, but my goodness was it rewarding. My manager placed me within projects where I got to work cross functionally with other teammates in different departments. I traveled to D.C. to participate in meetings with senators and representatives speaking for the better of the beverage industry. I went to a small university in Gaffney, South Carolina, and talked about Coca-Cola becoming the new beverage for their school . I presented my project to business leaders across functions after the duration of my internship was over. And best of all? I learned that the experiences where I was most uncomfortable ended up being the ones I loved the most. So take the internship eight hours away. Work with someone you don’t usually work with. Say “yes” to new things. Take it all in. It won’t last long.

?