Name: Yuri Xi

Year: Junior

Major: Economics

Minors: Business Institutions, Integrated Marketing Communications

CFS Program: Field Studies in the Modern Workplace

Employer: Nielsen

Nielsen is a global information and measurement company. It provides market research, insights and data about what people watch, listen to and buy to retailers, manufactures, media owner and agencies through various solutions. As an economics major also pursuing certificate in Integrated Marketing Communications, I am very lucky to be interning at Nielsen this spring.

Overall, I have greatly enjoyed my internship experience in the Marketing Effectiveness division. My day-to-day tasks include making presentation decks and thought leadership pieces for some of Nielsen’s biggest clients as well as making business materials and prospecting for client acquisition. I have also come across many opportunities sitting in internal work sessions as well as client meetings with my manager. Through these, I got full exposure of what is it like to be in a client-facing environment and what is it like to be working in a large international firm with teams located separately and remotely.

In addition to the interesting works I have been doing, I have also enjoyed interacting with welcoming and friendly people in the company. They are always open to answer any questions or take time to chat about their roles and career paths. Through talking to people in various practice areas of the company, I feel very much exposed to the company’s full suite of capabilities and the market research industry in general. I have also gained a completely new understanding of the consumer packaged goods and retail market space.

I have also found that the weekly CFS class, Field Studies in Modern Workplace, complements the internship experience very well. I have not only been able to learn more about the concept of ‘work’ and some of its disruptions through historical/political/philosophical lenses, I have also gotten the chance to hear about the internship experiences in different fields from my classmates.

The CFS program overall has been a very rewarding experience for me. I think it’s a great opportunity to combine insights gained from the corporate world with academically stimulating discussions that overall contributed greatly to my career decisions.