Intern Gains Experience and Confidence for Full-Time Employment
Internships shouldn’t be about sitting in a cubicle, working on a project made up for you. Internships should be about getting valuable experience and a glimpse inside what a career in that field might look like. You should walk away from it with skills and knowledge that’ll help you in future job opportunities.
“The group I was interning with trusted me with a lot, which I really wasn’t expecting,” says Brice Helton, college senior at Emporia State University and former intern with Spirit’s internal audit group. “I got to do my own audit, and I learned so much throughout the whole experience.”
What he learned helped him gain the perspective to know where he wants to start his career and the skills he’d need to do so successfully.
“From my first day, the internal audit group treated me like a fresh auditor coming in,” says Brice. “They trained me and threw me into the fire to lead my own audit, which is how I like to learn. I wasn’t alone, though. I had so much support and collaboration throughout the whole audit.”
One of the things I appreciated most was when I made a mistake, it wasn’t fixed for me. I was taught how to fix it.
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And by the end of the summer, he’d learned enough to guide others.
“I actually got to train someone at the end of my internship, and that was a great experience because I want to get into that type of role someday.”
Through Spirit’s internship program, Brice’s glimpse into being an internal auditor helped him understand what that type of role looks like. And through his hard work, his internship ended with the ideal outcome: an offer to join the team full-time after graduation.
From intern to full-time: “Everyone took me under their wings and taught me so much”
“When I started, I’d never taken an internal auditing class before,” says Brice. “That was nerve-wracking. I didn’t know what I was doing! But one of the things I appreciated the most during my internship was when I made a mistake, it wasn’t fixed for me. I was told how to fix it.”
He worked closely with many people on his team who taught him a lot about the job.
“Even though I was assigned a mentor, everyone took me under their wings and taught me so much, like what they were working on and how to phrase certain emails.”
Brice observed teams working together to help him and each other.
“Collaboration was really built into the team,” observes Brice. “I had to work with people because I was still learning what I was doing, but I saw others collaborating all the time. For instance, even if someone wasn’t working on a specific audit, but they had experience in a part of the business the audit was touching, they’d work with that audit’s lead, sharing what they knew.”
Such a collaborative environment encourages learning. And not only learning about how to do a certain job better, but also about others on the team and how to work together.
“The team had a great culture. My dad has worked at Spirit for forty years, so basically everyone knows who he is and would good-heartedly bring him up. We’d also play trivia and try locally owned restaurants regularly. I’m a very picky eater, and they forced me to get out of that,” Brice laughs.
While Brice jokes one of his favorite things about the program was the cinnamon rolls – “They could be a problem when I start full-time!” – he also shares that he really liked the networking opportunities.
“We had opportunities to network as part of the overall internship program and also just as finance interns,” Brice says. “There was also a leadership series where speakers would come in and talk about different things. My favorite one was the speaker on volunteerism. Volunteering is so important, and inspiring people to get involved in the community is a great thing to do and something Spirit cares about a lot.”
Other speakers covered topics like what your resume should look like from the recruitment perspective. Tom Gentile, the CEO, also held sessions called Time with Tom.
“The finance interns also got to meet with the CFO,” says Brice. “It was intimidating at first, but then he sat down with us and was, like, a normal dude. That was something I learned that, yes, executives are important, but they’re still people.”
Because of all that Brice learned and experienced, he had an accurate idea of what being an internal auditor would look like. He got offered a full-time position, and even among other job offers, the decision was clear.
“I was excited to get the offer,” Brice says. “And I’m excited to start. I’m looking forward to doing typical business things, like going on business trips and having a parking pass, and to seeing what else I can learn.”
Advice for other interns: “Put yourself out there”
For other interns looking to make the most of their experiences, Brice has a couple tips.
Tip 1: Get involved
“People always tell you in school to get involved. And it’s kind of like, yeah, sure, okay. They never tell you why.”
But now Brice has seen it from a different perspective.
“I’ve talked with people at Spirit and now I feel like I really understand why getting involved is important. They helped me see how those experiences can translate to learning new things that help in the future.”
It’s not all about doing activities for the sake of them looking good on your resume. Find ones that are meaningful to you and will teach you knew skills.
Tip 2: Put yourself out there
While putting yourself out there can feel scary and daunting, Brice can attest that it’s worth it.
“If you met me in high school, you wouldn’t have caught me dead in front of a group,” he laughs. “I run cross country, and I used to only give campus tours at my school for new cross country recruits that came in. But then I was encouraged to give tours for the university, so I decided to give it a shot. And now, I can do them!”
A mindset that has translated into other parts of Brice’s life, he encourages others to get outside of their comfort zones.
Tip 3: Don’t be afraid to reach out to people
“In my experience at Spirit, everyone seemed to want to help each other,” Brice says.
Working with people who want to help you learn, advance and grow can make all the difference in an internship program. For those interested in making the most of their experience, Brice has this to say:
“Don’t be afraid to reach out. For instance, some of the people on my team offered to teach me how to use some data visualization tools, and even though that wasn’t able to happen during my internship and even though they’ve moved out of the internal audit group, I’m still going to schedule a meeting with them once I start full-time to learn from them.”
Start your career running
“I really enjoyed my experience. And I’m grateful for it because I don’t think I’d be where I am today without it.”
Brice’s experience gave him the setting to find his path and blaze it. He figured out where he wants to start his career, got a grasp of what it’d be like, and now he gets to put it into practice when he starts as a full-time employee. If you’re interested in learning more about what a future at Spirit could look like, visit our internship page.
Want to read more from other Spirit interns? Sandy Tran, an intern turned marketing co-op, shares her experience of growth and learning, along with advice, here.
