Name: Roman Sekej

Year: Sophomore

Major: Economics

Minors: Business Institutions, Transportation & Logistics

CFS Program: Field Studies in the Modern Workplace

Employer: HBR Consulting

This Spring I interned at HBR Consulting. I was a part of the Law Department Consulting group, and I really liked my internship. It was my first internship in the corporate setting and I feel like I have learned a lot about consulting and about working in the business world in general. This experience opened my eyes more to see how consulting world works. I have made some meaningful connections in my workplace and the people I worked with were really nice to me. They were supportive and always ready to answer my questions. I was undecided between consulting and finance; however, this experienced confirmed that consulting the right career path for me – and that was the point of the internship anyways. I learned what I wanted to do later in my life and I am really happy I decided to take do the Chicago Field Studies Program.

I admit that first I was not really excited about the idea of having a class while having an internship; however, I was mistaken. Modern Workplace was one of the best classes I have ever taken at Northwestern. My professor, Nina Wieda, chose very interesting and though-provoking articles that Northwestern students might rarely be exposed to. As long as you engage in class and do your readings, the class is easy. The discussions we had in class were some of the most enriching and eye-opening that I ever had at Northwestern. If you want to think and learn about topics such as Universal Basic Income, Automation, Corporate Responsibility or even feasibility of capitalism, definitely take the Modern Workplace class with Nina Wieda. The class made me aware of many cultural artifacts in my workplaces that I would have otherwise overlooked. Furthermore, the skills and information I have learned in her class helped me a lot during informational interviews as I tend to ask a lot of specific workplace culture related questions that recruiters like as it shows you are genuinely interested in knowing whether you are a good fit with their company.

Finally, I would like to thank all staff involved in the Chicago Field Studies program, especially my advisor, Karen Allen. As I mentioned before, the internship at HBR Consulting was the first internship I had in the corporate settings and it was the first time I went through the actual process of applying to jobs, formatting my resume and going through interviews. Karen is incredibly insightful and she helped a lot. It was a new experience for me and she made the transition into the corporate world much easier for me. I managed to mess up a few times, especially in the beginning, but she was always there to fix what could be fixed. My experience would not be the same without her and other staff at Chicago Field Studies. Overall, I recommend everyone to participate in CFS as it’s an amazing and unique opportunity for Northwestern students to get a real work experience while still being at college. What makes Northwestern unique and better than other schools is its proximity to Chicago and there is no better way to utilize this advantage than participating in Chicago Field Studies!