Name: Gary

Year: Senior

Major(s): Economics & MMSS

CFS Concentration: Business Field Studies

Coming into this quarter, I wanted to do something that could bridge the gap between school and the real world. Having sat in classrooms for the better part of 11 quarters, I thought that the opportunity to take in some experiential learning would be a good value-added to my college experience. Now that I am nearing the end of my ten-week internship stint, I can reflect back and say that all the time and effort I have put forth into my work has been worth it and that the amount of knowledge and skills that I have picked up will likely go a long way in the future.

I interned with Nielsen in the firm’s downtown Chicago office with the mindset of developing and refining important transferrable skills that I can take with me anywhere. I am happy to say that I have done that and more. Throughout my internship, I was staffed on a number of projects that required me to use different skills in order to get the work done. One project required me to put on my creative hat in creating informative yet exciting presentation decks and other documents that highlight Nielsen’s different capabilities. Another project allowed to me exercise my research skills in gathering competitive intelligence on Nielsen’s competitors. A final project was a client-facing one in which I refined my analytical skills in taking client information, analyzing the data, and using the analysis to generate recommendations for the client.

All that was done in a fairly relaxed atmosphere that I highly enjoyed. I learned so much about the market research industry as well as the consumer packaged goods industry within which many of Nielsen’s clients reside. I also learned a lot about my own strengths and weaknesses that are important to know for continued improvement down the road. I think the overall CFS experience has been tremendously positive, and I am definitely leaving it on a high note.