Caitlyn Fichtner '17
Majors:
Food Marketing and Finance
Internship Title:
Corporate Merchandising Intern
Internship Company:
Wegmans Food Markets
Tell us a little bit about your internship position:
"The Corporate Merchandising Intern Program is a three year program. Therefore, I had a wide variety of experiences within the field. Some of my roles or areas that I worked in included: Heath and Beauty Buyer, Packaging Project Traffic Coordinator, a Continuous Improvement project relating to the Oral Care Aisle, Prepared Foods Nutrition Audit, and Pricing project."
How did you land your current position?
"I worked as a front end cashier at the store near my house while I was in high school and loved the company and what it was all about. I found the job posting for the three year internship program on the Wegmans employee website during my freshman year. I had no corporate experience or any food marketing classes under my belt at the time, but I figured it couldn't hurt to apply since I was passionate about the company and the industry. I think it was my passion and excitement for the opportunity that helped me to land the position. While interviewing for the position, I also made sure to reach out to managers and other people who already worked for Wegmans to help give me advice to navigate the process, which was beneficial as well."
What is some advice that you would give to students who are currently searching for internships/who are about to do their first internship?
"My first piece of advice would be to always be flexible and open to new opportunities/projects. Many of the projects that I was asked to be a part of I knew nothing about and were outside my comfort zone. If you go into each new opportunity with an open mind and a strong willingness to learn, you will be successful. Hard work ethic and being open to learning from others has helped me grow tremendously in my early career.
My second piece of advice is to go after what you are passionate about. Find what makes you excited to go to work each day and make a difference. You will put forth much better work when you are doing something that you love."