Sarah Siebels Gains Marketing Experience Through Summer '19 Internship

Technology integrates into every sector of business. Sarah Siebels, a rising senior studying marketing at the Chaifetz School of Business, experienced how technology shapes marketing during a summer 2019 internship at World Wide Technology (WWT).

World Wide Technology is a technology service provider that assists organizations with implementation. Siebels was a business development intern on the proposals team, assisting with retroactive complexity scoring and proposal formatting. She also collaborated with a team of interns on a capstone presentation, which involved building a prototype of an app to improve digital campuses, specifically parking and transportation.

"I have learned so much about WWT and the technology world through working on the proposals team, and I am so grateful for that as technology is becoming the backbone of our society," said Siebels.

Siebels attended various talks given by executives within the company to learn more about her desired career path in marketing. Throughout her internship, Siebels said she learned what she values in a company, knowing what to look for in the future.

"I attended a presentation on trust, and I didn’t realize how much it's involved in the business and relationships here," Siebels said. "I also value the ideals of trust, respect and humility that WWT makes so prominent in their company."

Siebels said she recognized parallels between the business concepts learned in her classes at the Chaifetz School and the information relevant to her internship at WWT.

"As I go through training and hear how the managers at WWT operate, I can connect it to my intro to marketing management class. I learned how to work with others in a professional manner," Siebels said. "Different parts of planning such as social media, digital, email and event marketing have helped me be the team leader on my capstone presentation team. Overall, I have been well prepared by SLU to go into this internship."

The Chaifetz School also teaches its students real-world skills such as professionalism, time management and interview preparation that are essential in the work place.

When Siebels searched for a summer internship at the beginning of the prior spring semester, she said she sought guidance from the internship coordinator in the Chaifetz School of Business' Valerie A. Davisson Career Resources Center.

"The Career Resources Center, specifically the internship coordinator, helped me greatly throughout the process of getting this internship," Siebels said. "She was always excited to talk to me about opportunities; It always felt like I had a cheerleader, and that built my confidence coming into this internship."

Approaching senior year, Siebels has already begun the job-searching process in hopes of finding a company that embodies her same values of trust, respect and humility.

"I am constantly looking at different marketing jobs in and around St. Louis, along with other places across the globe," Siebels said. "Senior year, I hope to continue interning at WWT or gaining experience elsewhere that will help me to be the best job candidate next May."