According to WayUp, one of the nation’s top 100 interns is right here in Peoria, and she just might be your classmate.
Natalie Konopka, a junior marketing and public relations double major and a minor in management information systems (MIS), had a human resources internship in external employment branding at Caterpillar Inc.
“It’s definitely a wild ride of having a lot of things on your plate at once but I learned how to prioritize and delegate time for each task,” Konopka said.
The job involved both one on one meetings and working independently alongside the manager that helped her understand how to work efficiently in a team and produce top results working on her own.
The most unexpected outcome was the amount of global impact that Konopka’s job seemed to have.
“On my first day at work, I had a Skype interview with someone from the U.K.,” Konopka said.
She explained that other internships were basically about filing, typing and other basic jobs whereas, here she saw each decision she made get implemented and come to play on a global level.
“The one thing I would do differently if I was given this opportunity again,” she said, “would be to network with more people outside the department.”
According to Konopka, the key role of most of these internships, other than experience, is to create contacts.
“The more people you know, the better position you are in at the end of the day,” Konopka said.
After getting invited by email to apply for this award, Konopka filled out an extensive application about her internship experience, her job description and how she worked with her schedule and other activities. Thirty percent of the award was based on voting, and the winners were decided by a panel of leading professionals from the industry based on their eligibility, using other criteria.
Winning this exclusive award of being ranked as one of the top 100 interns in the entire nation came along with bragging rights, certificates and an entire year’s supply of Red Bull.
“I feel like I was the right person to win this award from the very beginning, because everyone knows I love Red Bull,” Konopka said.
She is not only one of the top 100 interns of the nation, but is also a very involved student at Bradley. She is a member and holding leadership positions in more than eight organizations that include the THAAKAT Foundation, LINCS, Women in Business, the Pinterest Club and the Bradley University Sales Team.
