Category Archives: Students

Signed, Sealed, Delivered: Marketing Major Leads at Amazon Internship

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Emily and her manager. Provided.

by Mia Olijslager

Emily Cooperman takes a selfie at her Amazon operations internship. Photo provided.

There is a lot that goes on between the time you hit that “place your order” button and seeing your package delivered at your doorstep, just ask Emily Cooperman ‘22.

After spending ten weeks as an intern at one of Amazon’s delivery stations in New Jersey this summer, the marketing major and minor in hospitality and tourism management found her knack for impacting customer’s lives through delivery operations.

The School of Business recently caught up with Emily to learn more about her summer at Amazon.

What drew you to an internship with Amazon?

Throughout college, I’ve had multiple internships with small companies. They were great and I am thankful for those experiences, but I really wanted to experience working for a larger company. I figured what a better company than Amazon, the world’s fastest-growing online retailer! The application process included a behavioral profile and situational questions about real-life instances in the workplace. After I sent in my application, I had two back-to-back virtual interviews. Once I was offered the position and accepted, I became a part of the Intern 2021 Cohort.

What did your day-to-day look like as an operations management intern?

In a word, hectic! Each delivery station operates on a 24-hour workday. The night and day shifts are each entirely focused on getting packages out the door. As part of the day shift, we oversaw the loading of over 100 delivery trucks daily. In the world of operations, and especially Amazon, the smallest mishap can cause the entire process to get bogged down.

What is one thing you are most proud of accomplishing during your internship?

Once the trucks departed, a key part of my day was to work on my internship project. Each intern at Amazon was required to work on local process improvement needs and present their research to senior leadership after their internship. My project addressed delivery errors, and through my work, I ultimately made a process improvement recommendation that saved the station approximately $16,000 during my ten-week internship alone!

Emily and her manager. Provided.

Emily and her manager. Provided.

That’s impressive! What business classes prepared you for your time at Amazon?

MGMT 301 — Management and Organizational Behavior — taught by Alexis Carrico certainly pertained to my internship as it equipped me with background knowledge about leadership styles in the workplace, customer responsiveness and six sigma. Amazon prides itself on its “customer obsession,” and I saw much of the class’s teachings and theories put into practice. Another course, Productions/Operations Management, DSCI 304 taught by Maryam Mahdikhani, was especially helpful in giving me an understanding of supply chain and process improvement methods. Amazon is assessing its operations daily and constantly tweaking for improvements.

What’s the most interesting thing you’ve learned while interning at Amazon?

The process of how a package completes its journey and ultimately winds up at the correct customer’s doorstep was fascinating! As a customer, I was always very curious about the process of ordering something and it showing up at your house two days later. Amazon’s daily success is truly a supply chain miracle!

What has been a key takeaway from your internship experience?

I was so shy when I started college and got nervous about everything. But, I was extremely motivated to use all the resources I could during my time at CofC to help set me up with the best career I could find. I knew the first part of that would be securing meaningful internships. Using the School of Business Student Success Center and resume and interview practice from my business fraternity Phi Chi Theta helped to polish my skills and taught me where to find opportunities.

Any advice for your peers?

Get out of your comfort zone, apply to as many internships as possible and research companies you are interested in! It is never too soon to start planning for your future. “Have fun, work hard and make history,” as they say at Amazon.

 This interview has been edited and condensed.

Accounting and Dance Major Counts Both Numbers and Beats

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Double majoring in accounting and dance isn’t usual, but that’s the business school way. Many of our students complement their business education with coursework in the arts. The ability to study both accounting and dance is what drew Maggie Howe ‘21 to the College.

Watch below as Maggie attends her business and dance courses, enjoys Charleston’s beaches, attends site visits as a part of the Schottland Scholars program and more.

“You never know where the campus ends, and the city begins,” shares the Honors College student.

Business Students Aim to Make a Difference With E-Commerce Site

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As the COVID-19 pandemic continues to reshape our world, more consumers have begun shopping online in greater numbers and frequency. A recent report showed United States customers bought over $183 billion in goods – all online – from March 2020 to February 2021. Although more and more people are buying products online, local merchants are not necessarily benefiting from this massive increase in online shopping.

Some College of Charleston students want to change that trend.

Read more at The College Today.

The School of Business Welcomes President-elect Andrew T. Hsu to Campus

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Faculty, staff and students at the College of Charleston School of Business welcomed the College’s new president, Andrew T. Hsu, Ph.D., to campus on March 1, 2019.

The Board of Trustees named Hsu the 23rd president on Nov. 28, 2018.

President Hsu was born in China and completed his undergraduate degree at Tsinghua University, a major research university in Beijing. After earning his master’s and doctoral degrees in aerospace engineering from Georgia Tech, he worked in the private sector at Sverdrup Technology (a NASA contractor) and Rolls-Royce North America in Indianapolis. He then entered academia as a director of the aerospace program at the University of Miami.

As he continued his work in higher education, President Hsu held positions at Indiana University – Purdue University Indianapolis, Purdue University, Wright State University and San Jose State University. Prior to becoming the College’s president, he served as the provost and executive vice president for academic affairs at the University of Toledo.

Check out our video welcome below!

School of Business Co-Hosts Summit to Strengthen German-American Ties

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Economics and employment are at the forefront of conversations slated for the 2019 German-American Business Summit, which will be held on February 5 at the Charleston Gaillard Center.

If good occurrences happen in threes then students, alumni and business professionals are in for an exciting event as the College of Charleston School of Business co-hosts the third-annual German-American Business Summit.

The Summit, co-presented with the business school by the College’s German Program, School of Languages, Cultures and World Affairs and Career Center, will connect job seekers with German companies in the state to sustain a pipeline of talent coming from the College of Charleston and summit partners Trident Technical College and The Citadel.

According to the South Carolina Department of Commerce, the Palmetto State receives more investment funds and jobs from German industry than any state in the country per capita. What’s more, German companies employ upwards of 32,000 South Carolinians annually and are always on the lookout for their next hire.

Attendees pursuing internship and job opportunities will have the chance to meet representatives from the state’s most visible German companies such as Mercedes-Benz Vans, KION North America, Bosch and BMW of North America.

Dinning (left) and McEwen (right)

The Summit seeks to foster relationships and push for stronger ties between students and German-American business industries. B-school students Sarah Dinning ’20 and Will McEwen ’20 both successfully secured internships at Mercedes-Benz Vans and IFA Rotorion, respectively, after attending the inaugural summit.

This year’s keynote presenter is Torsten Scheffler, senior manager of the Engineering NAFTA Hub USA for Mercedes-Benz U.S. International, Inc. — the production location for the GLE-, GLS- and the GLE Coupe sport utility vehicles as well as the C-Class for the U.S. and Canadian market.

The event kicks off at 11 a.m. with a job fair featuring nearly 20 German corporations. The conference portion of the day begins at 1 p.m. with the keynote presentation by Scheffler followed by a presentation on tariffs and panel discussions on sustainability and the future of the German-American industry.

The entire College community (students, faculty, staff and alumni) as well as business professionals and community members are encouraged to attend. Registration is required. To register, please visit go.cofc.edu/GABS.

Data Reigns Supreme for Marketing Major at Summer Internship

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Leanna Conti ‘19 is all about storytelling through data. Equipped with a knack for analytics and a tenacity to hone her digital marketing skills, the information management minor successfully landed an internship this summer with SnapCap by LendingTree, a lending firm founded by CofC alum Hunter Stunzi that connects small businesses with loans.

The School of Business sat down with Conti to find out more about her internship, daily duties and the ways the experience has reinforced what she’s learned in the classroom.

Conti

What made you decide to pursue SnapCap for an internship?

I came to the College as a Swanson Scholar in the Honors College. That program was made possible by Steve Swanson ‘89, a generous alum and graduate of the honors program. He also happens to serve as an advisor for SnapCap. I had heard from him, as well as others, that the company was doing great things here in Charleston. When it came time to look for a summer internship, I knew I wanted to further my experience in the field of digital marketing and SnapCap by LendingTree had an open position that fit the bill.

That really worked out for you! Can you tell us a little about your day-to-day duties at your internship?

My duties vary day-to-day but typically revolve around search engine marketing. Every day I’m doing hands-on work running tests and performing optimizations. I put together weekly and monthly reports as well as ad-hoc analyses for any questions that may arise. I’ve been strongly encouraged to pursue any area of the business that I’m interested in here, which makes every day unique and exciting!

It sounds like you’re gaining a lot of real-world experience. Are there any classes you’ve taken that directly relate to what you’re doing at SnapCap?

I was enrolled in the first iteration of Professor Lancie Affonso’s MKTG 360 digital marketing class. That class helped pique my interest in the realm of digital marketing and its ability to toe the line between business, technology and data science. Around the same time, I took Professor Christopher Starr’s INFM 350 business analytics course, an offering from the new Information Management minor. That course gave me an understanding of data management that is invaluable as a business student in today’s world. At my internship, I feel confident pulling information from databases using SQL (structured query language) — a feat I couldn’t have imagined doing before taking Professor Starr’s class.

What have you learned from your internship?

I’ve been taught the incredible power of data as a decision-making tool and its prescriptive capabilities. Additionally, I’ve seen the sentiment “always be testing” in full force, which can be applied in any area of one’s life. Even the smallest .0001 percent improvement can make an impact when you’re working at the incredible scale that LendingTree is. It’s not enough to remain stagnant, one must always be looking for the newest edge or next leg up.

Summer’s quickly winding down. What skills have you gained that you will take with you into the Fall?

I hope to walk away from this internship with stronger analytical and interpersonal capabilities. I would also like to continue to pursue new trends in digital marketing and have a better understanding of how those trends can be applied to benefit companies as small as startups to as large as LendingTree.

This interview has been condensed and edited.