Winterim Internship
During the final week of last semester I received an email from UW MBA Career Services about a winter break internship opportunity. The position is Interim Policy Advisor to the Wisconsin Secretary of Commerce, Mary Burke. I remembered hearing Mary talk about government’s responsibility to drive economic development when she participated in the Oros Speaker Series. Every week or two we heard from star alumni such as the CEOs of Kimberly-Clark and Cisco Systems. Mary stood out because she conveyed a passion for helping the people of her native state by creating training programs, supporting local businesses, financing entrepreneurs, and attracting new jobs to Wisconsin. I applied, interviewed and was offered the position two days before Christmas.
I began the internship on December 27. This seriously cramped my winter break dreams of sleeping until 10, enjoying homemade cooking, and jaunting down to Belize. But the chance to learn about the public sector, work with Mary, earn a few thousand dollars, and see what Madison is like without 45,000 students seemed worthwhile. Now that I have been on the job for two weeks, I am thrilled with my seemingly irrational decision. My first task was to prepare a pitch book to encourage a well-known firm to consolidate its corporate headquarters in Wisconsin, rather than move 400 high-paying white-collar jobs out of the state.
I know that my pitch has very little impact on their ultimate decision but it is high-stakes for the 400 workers that could be affected. I worked 60 hours my first week to get the pitch as refined as possible and I learned a lot about the area along the way. Did you know…Madison has the third best public schools in the country? It’s the best city in America for cycling and third-best for walking. The unemployment rate is under 3%. It has the most vegetarian restaurants per capita. The pitch is done, and now I am working on a strategy project. I may try to continue by working 10 hours per week during the school year. I have also been thrilled by the (lack of) winter weather. It’s mid-January and still no snow or need for hats and gloves.