The Intern Chronicles: Northwestern Mutual Financial Network

We worked hard on our resumes, applied to every job posting, and stressed over interviews.  But it was all worth it to land our awesome internships!  This is a blog series to highlight the incredible opportunities we had this past summer beginning our careers.  If you worked at an internship this summer, contact us so we can feature your experience in an article! 

I am a Communication major, Studio Art minor focusing in photography, creating a pseudo-Photojournalism major, if you will.  My dream job would be to write and photograph for any number of magazines- Cosmopolitan, Sports Illustrated, National Geographic…the list is endless.  You may be wondering, how on earth did I get an internship with a financial company and a Fortune 500 at that, and more importantly, why did I choose to go through with it?  These same questions were going through my head last May, as well as the heads of anyone that heard of my summer plans.  My CSOM roommates found the whole thing quite entertaining since most (okay, basically all) of my knowledge of the business world was thanks to them.

The truth?  I really had no idea who Northwestern Mutual was or what I was getting myself into at the time.  Last spring I was religiously searching for a paying summer internship in my home state, Connecticut, and the BC Career Center webpage became my new best friend.  Under the Communication section of the website, I saw the posting for Northwestern Mutual and got in touch with the listed contact.  When she started explaining the position and how the hiring process worked, I became super overwhelmed and instead of playing it cool and acting like the perfect intern candidate, I had one of those inexplicable moments of intense honesty.
 
“I’m sorry, I really don’t think I’m qualified for this.  I’m a Communication Major and honestly know NOTHING about business or finance or anything.”
 
Good job, Elaina.  Your one chance at a paying internship this summer and you have to go and open your big trap.  Can you say hello to sandwich making at Subway for another summer?
 
“Oh no, that’s fine.  We love Communication Majors!  You can teach anyone the finance part of the job, being able to communicate and interact well with clients is the more important aspect.  You can’t teach someone how to not be awkward, that’s why we like to post under the Communication Department.”
 
Cue giant sigh of relief.

However, there was definitely more to the next three months than good communication.  As a Financial Representative Intern for Northwestern Mutual, I had to pass the CT Health, Life, and Accident State Licensing Exam, so the first week of my summer was spent locked away in my bedroom learning about Medicare laws and types of annuities.  After becoming licensed, myself and the other 20+ interns from my office went to “Sales School” in Massachusetts with other interns from the region to learn more about the actual internship.
 
When all the initial training was over, the summer consisted of classes twice a week to continue my education about the company and my position as an intern, calling potential clients (aka all of my dad’s friends) to try and set up appointments, and actually going on those appointments with people nice enough to make them with the hopes of being able to help them with their financial goals (whether that be through college planning, life insurance, etc.).  The job could be stressful at times, but it was the best real life work experience I could have asked for since I was basically doing the same work that the fulltime Reps do (just with a little more guidance).
 
Although finance probably will not be my career of choice, I am grateful for choosing to do the internship and the experience I gained.  All the interns in my office became really close as the summer progressed, and I still keep contact with a lot of them now that we’re all back at school.  Plus, I got to go to the company’s annual meeting in Milwaukee (Hello, Wisconsin!), which was probably a chance of a lifetime.

CEO of Northwestern Mutual, John E. Schlifske, interviewing guest speaker 2010 Super Bowl MVP, Aaron Rodgers, at the company’s annual meeting.

So, I may have been one of two Communication majors interning at my Northwestern Mutual office (for some reason there were a lot of Bentley, Babson, Bryant students…weird, I know), but you can’t let what you study in undergrad dictate every decision you make.  I still don’t pick up the WSJ in the morning (sorry roomies!) but I do have a new appreciation for finance and business in general.  When you’re searching for an internship either now or sometime in the future, don’t be afraid to try something a little different or new for you.  You may end up loving it, and if not, well at least you know what you DON’T want to do for the rest of your life.
 
Photo Sources:
http://i.cdn.turner.com/sivault/si_online/covers/images/2004/1101_large.jpg
http://mojosavings.com/wp-content/uploads/2011/01/magazines.jpg