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Student Spotlight
Clare Ahne
Major: Business Administration – Concentration: ManagementExpected Graduation Month & Year: December 2020
Hometown: Grand Island, NY
Desired Career Path: Operations, Quality Control Administrator
- What was your experience like searching for and securing an internship/part-time/full-time job/community involvement during the pandemic?
- My experience trying to find an internship in the middle of a worldwide pandemic was not an easy process. Prior to COVID, I went to the internship fair at Buffalo State and opportunities were plentiful. But within a few weeks, those opportunities became scarce. Over the course of the spring semester, I started networking with connections made from the fair in hopes of finding an internship. Many companies were not taking on interns due to this pandemic. Over the summer I was searching on the main job sites, I was networking with personal connections in and out of state in hopes of finding something. Finally, in July, I reached out to Professor Scalia for help and she started to reach out to her contacts. After a good six months of trying to find an opportunity, Professor Scalia found one with a local company.
- Share any accomplishments, successes, positive experiences during your experience.
- I had an extremely positive experience with my internship which resulted in a job upon graduation. In just three months, I accomplished a lot for the company. I learned that in the business world, everything moves at one pace - fast. This position provided me with the opportunity to critically think, problem solve, and multitask while executing many projects.
- In what ways did the Career and Professional Education Center (CAPE) help in your preparation/search? (workshops, event, 1-on-1 services, BengalLink/other resources)
- I would say that I had a positive experience with the CAPE and all the preparation tools and classes they provided. I would definitely recommend students to visit the CAPE when creating or updating your resume. They have great tools and outlines to help you.
- Words of wisdom you would like to share with other students?
- Some advice I have for students trying to find an internship is to talk to everyone! You never know the kind of connections people have with companies. Especially in Buffalo, it is a small and well-connected community - so talk to people. Also, be patient with the process. But, that doesn’t mean to just wait for the opportunity to come and approach you. Good things come to those who are driven and patient. Once you set your goal of getting a job or an internship, do everything you can to achieve it. Also, when it comes to your resume, I highly recommend getting as many people to read it as possible! Reach out to professors and even friends at other colleges in your discipline and ask them to review for format, and look for spelling and grammar errors. The more (trusted) eyes on the resume, the better. It is very easy to miss errors when you are reading the same document many times. If there are spelling or grammatical errors, it could play a role in you not getting an interview!
- Desired career plans after graduation?
- I am excited to say that I will be taking on the position(s) of Operations Administrator as well as Quality Control Administrator for the company I interned at.
