Intern to Full-Time Feature: A Q&A with alumnus Jacob Schmitt


Name: 
Jacob Schmitt

Graduation Year: 2017

Major: Psychology

CFS Class: Business Field Studies during the Fall Quarter of 2016

Employer: Education Funding Partners

Q: When talking with your employer about the full-time position, how did you initiate the conversation and when did you initiate it?

A: I actually was not the one to initiate the conversation. Nearing the end of my internship, my boss set up a meeting for us to connect about my performance throughout the internship and that is when he asked me if I would be interested in continuing to work for the company while I went back to school for the Winter & Spring quarters. I agreed to work while finishing my degree and after a couple months he gave me a full time job offer after the previous employee in my current position left.

 

Q: Some people have said obtaining the full time position is about being in the right place at the right time, does this apply to you?

A: Yes, this absolutely applies to me. When I first started my internship back in the fall of 2016 the company had just relocated the headquarters from Denver to Chicago and brought in a new CEO. I was able to come in during a time of transition and at a point when the company was experiencing a lot of changes. I was able to take on quite a bit of responsibility working closely with the CEO and during the time I was working while finishing school, an employee took another job at which point I was asked to step into that role.

 

Q: What made you want to pursue your internship full time?

A: The people. I enjoyed coming to the office every day to be able to work with the people on the team. I was learning a lot during my internship and couldn’t pass up the opportunity to continue under my supervisor’s leadership.

 

Q: How was your internship different from the full-time position?

A: More responsibility. I started managing a team of a couple people and took on more and more roles touching different parts of the business.