Isabel Michniak Internship with Identiti Resources

Name: Isabel Michniak

Class: 2021

Major: Business Administration and Sociology 

Hometown: Elk Grove Village, Illinois 

Interning with: Identiti Resources 

Location: Schaumburg, Illinois 

Position: Project Management Intern 

 

1. What are your everyday responsibilities as an intern?

My day to day responsibilities really vary on what needs to get done by the other project managers. At this point in time we are starting a new project with another company, so I have been taking steps to begin this project (calling clients, inputting data, etc). It is all team based, and since everyone is in different spots in their various projects, it really depends on what they need help with. 

 

2. How did you land this internship?

I landed this internship by applying through Handshake, but mostly by having my position at the Career Center as a student worker. I really benefited from hearing about this position through Warren Kistner and Patrick Zajac. They brought up the opportunity to me and connected me to the owners of this company, and through that I was able to move forward with the process.

 

3. What drew you to this internship?

I was drawn to this internship for a lot of reasons, but mostly because it is something different that I have never really thought of before. I never heard of project management before this internship, so it was really intriguing to me to have the opportunity to not only learn about internal business operations, but to learn about it through a lens I never knew existed. 

 

4. How did IWU prepare you for succeeding as an intern?

Illinois Wesleyan has prepared me for this internship in many ways, but the biggest ones being time management and organization. I juggle a lot of different tasks with my position and communicate with a lot of different people. Having two majors, a work study job, and holding a leadership position in my sorority, I have to balance many responsibilities. I feel that if I didn’t have this exposure in school, it would be much more difficult for me to adjust. Illinois Wesleyan also teaches me how to work in a team setting, specifically because of the small student-to-faculty ratio, small student population and the Greek system. Teamwork is absolutely essential in my position at Identiti.

 

5. What do you hope to gain from this internship experience as you look forward to being a student/professional?

As a student, I hope to further gain skills such as organization, time management, and prioritizing tasks. I also hope to better learn how to get tasks done thoroughly and quickly with less distraction. In terms of my professional future, I hope this internship will help me really solidify my future career path and continue to find my passion. 

 

6. What's been a particularly rewarding experience as an intern?

I feel as though the rewarding experience as an intern is the knowledge that I am actually helping the company. I am not merely sitting at my desk or getting coffee for people like the movies; I am executing the same tasks that the employees are and I feel valued for the work that I do. 

 

7. In your opinion, why is it important for students to experience internships?

It’s important for students to experience internships because it is so different from a school setting. Yes, a lot of the skills transfer over, however, we do not get to experience a true feeling of an “adult” job until we are out of college. Having an internship provides that insight of what it is really like outside of college, especially by working with people who are older or no longer students. It also can help you figure out what you do and do not want to do in the future, which, in my experience, can be difficult to narrow down without that hands-on opportunity. It’s also helped me make connections with employers, and other students! Esther and Cecilia are also Wesleyan students and we met through this internship, which is a really neat connection to have.