Name: Elizabeth Abramson

CFS Concentration & Year: Business Field Studies (Summer 2011) and Modern Workplace (Winter 2012)

Internship: Vivaki (marketing consulting) and LiquidThread (marketing)

Major /Minor: Psychology/Business Institutions

Graduation Year: March 2012

Current Position: Student at Loyola University Chicago School of Law. After graduating from Northwestern I worked for 2.5 years at a boutique litigation consulting firm in Chicago, Donoghue & Associates, as a research analyst.

Describe your CFS internship and how it helped you either in interviews, job opportunities or graduate school applications?

My internship experience at Vivaki was especially valuable. I was the only intern and able to develop close relationships with the people I worked with. I spent most of my time working closely with a manager and a Senior Vice President at the company. They made a strong effort to include me on meetings and give me opportunities to see other departments within the company. My manager was a Northwestern alum who was determined to give me projects I could take the lead on, develop, and see through to the end in my 3 months at the company. She became a valuable reference when I started interviewing for positions after graduation.

Did you see it as a future career when you took the internship? 

I had heard great things about the Publicis Groupe organization in general and was interested in gaining experience in the marketing industry.

Please briefly explain what you are doing now?

After spending some time with a litigation consulting firm in Chicago, I decided I wanted to be an attorney. I’m currently a first year student at Loyola’s law school in Chicago. I am pursuing a certificate in advocacy and in health law.

Is there a link between your CFS experience and what you are doing now? 

As a psychology major and a BIP minor I thought that marketing would be a logical next step. I was lucky and able to go through the CFS program twice. My experience helped me see that working for a marketing agency was not something I wanted to do. I really enjoyed both of my experiences and potential employers viewed them as valuable work experiences. I ultimately found a full-time position as a research analyst that called for more quantitative reasoning skills than I needed as a CFS intern.

What advice do you have for students at NU considering the program? 

I think the CFS program gives undergraduates a unique opportunity to find valuable work experience during the academic year or summer. The program’s reputation allows students with no prior work experience to have opportunities they might not otherwise qualify for.

How can CFS students make the most of their experience? 

Try to build connections with the people you work with. Someone who has been working in the real world for a few years or many years will be open to share their experiences with you and possibly give you valuable tips for when it comes time for you to find your full-time position after graduation.