The World on Time: My Internship Experience at FedEx

The weather has started getting cold. We are wrapping up the Fall semester at school and I’m wrapping up my internship with FedEx Services in the Sourcing and Procurement Department. The internship with FedEx came with challenges. But I would say that keeping up the #purplepromise

The cover image talks about how my journey went to start my internship with FedEx. From giving a phone interview in the parking lot to getting into a chattered flight to start my internship with FedEx.

FedEx Corporation is an American multinational delivery services company headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee. The name "FedEx" is a syllabic abbreviation of the name of the company's original air division, Federal Express (now FedEx Express), which was used from 1973 until 2000. The company is known for its overnight shipping service and pioneering a system that could track packages and provide real-time updates on package location, a feature that has now been implemented by most other carrier services. FedEx is also one of the top contractors of the US government.

FedEx Services Provides global marketing, planning, and information technology (IT) services for the other FedEx operating companies.

Some of the skills I was exposed to and grew at FedEx:

• Project Management
• Category Management
• Emotional Intelligence
• Data Analytics
• Contract Management
• Sourcing and Procurement

Apart from your skills Something I would like to share my learning:

• Ask questions: Dig down and ask questions if you don’t understand. Everybody is not perfect, and you should always keep yourself open to ask questions
• Focus on building relationships: The relationships you build during your internship will be the foundation of your professional network. These connections you build during your internship have the best potential to positively impact your career. Your supervisor and others you work with are the references you’ll ask for letters of recommendation in your future endeavors.
• Most of them would like to help you: Your seniors and peers at work are always happy to help you. If you ask them for guidance anybody shall feel privileged to answer your questions and solve your doubts. Asking for help shows signs of strength, confidence, and resourcefulness.
• Work but learn more: Any experience is more of learning compared to working.

How school work (JSOM) helped me in the internship?

UTD SCM program at JSOM comes with a holistic approach. I have got an opportunity for a lot of on-campus and off-campus events. Apart from that the courses offered aligned very much to the work and hence I could also implement mine in class practical knowledge in the real world. Some of the courses which aligned with my job were :

OPRE 6371: Purchasing, Sourcing, and Contract Management.

OPRE 6302: Operations Management 

OPRE 6301: Statistics and Data Analysis

OB 6332: Negotiation and Dispute Resolution

Certification Program: Contracting, Sourcing & Negotiations

Fun Facts about FedEx:

The Founder Of FedEx Saved The Company From Bankruptcy With His Blackjack Winnings:

When FedEx's funds dwindled to just $5,000, Mr. Smith, The founder, and Chairman realized he didn't have enough to fuel the planes. The company had already gone to many extremes, from pilots using their personal credit cards to fuel planes to uncashed paychecks.

So what's a desperate founder to do? Smith impulsively flew to Las Vegas and played blackjack with the last of the company money. Amazingly, when he came back the next week, he had turned the remaining $5,000 into $27,000 — just enough for the company to stay in operation for another week.