Name: Juliet Jacques

Year: Junior

Majors: English Literature and Political Science

CFS Class: Legal Field Studies

Employer: McGuireWoods Consulting

During the winter of 2021, I interned at the Chicago office of McGuireWoods Consulting, which is a government relations and consulting firm. I worked with the Illinois state government lobbying team, which has clients in a variety of fields such as health, education, and finance. I learned a ton about state government and work in Springfield by researching bills, tracking the progress of legislation, and reporting on congressional hearings.
Although at first I was uncertain about a virtual internship, I actually ended up loving it (spoken as a true introvert). But in all seriousness, virtual internships are very conducive to the nature of the CFS program. Because classes were also remote, I was able to take a fifth class while doing a CFS internship full time, as I didn’t have to travel back and forth from Evanston to Chicago. The same also applied to my CFS class – after a long week of work, it was relaxing and helpful to just take the class from my house. Not having to make the long CTA trek everyday doing a Chicago winter was also a plus.
Of course, virtual work is never ideal, but I learned a lot about how to overcome its challenges and stay involved in the office. At home, it’s easy to keep your head down and stay in your own bubble, but I feel that it was more fun and really helpful for me to talk and work with many team members. One tip I found useful was sending out email requests for virtual coffee chats. This is a casual way to meet and can be great for networking. Make yourself accessible to everyone in the office, and don’t be afraid to reach out and ask to sit in on meetings or work on projects. Overall, a remote internship allowed me to immerse myself fully in an amazing internship while also being engaged with classes and campus life.