On the first day of orientation, you hear that
you’re already behind on your internship search, and you’d better get to it if
you plan on doing anything other than binge watch Breaking Bad between May
and September. While that might be a little panic inducing, it’s true:
positions are limited, and the applicant pool looks like a salmon farm.

I had initially heard about BioEnterprise at the Great Lakes Venture Fair from one of their CEOs-in-Residence; her story was inspiring and
her enthusiasm infectious—so much so that I forgot to ask for her business card
and her name. When I heard about BioEnterprise during a class presentation several
months later, I asked one of my professors if he could connect me with anyone
at the company. He introduced me to the internship director via email, and I began
working as a Business Development Associate two weeks later.
I was pretty shocked that the process was so seamless: I’d
requested introductions from dozens of connections I’d made during my first few
months at Weatherhead, and while many of those requests resulted in a conversation
over coffee or lunch, only three led to potential internship offers. I don’t think
my experience was atypical, and I’d guess that many students would credit at
least one internship or job offer to vigorous networking.
If I had to do it all over again, I’d try to eliminate a few
errors, like not forgetting to ask for business cards, of course—or forgetting which
person corresponded to the card I did get.
I've also gathered that phone calls on Monday mornings are ill-received, and
Friday afternoon emails are never answered.
--
Meghan Finneran
Meghan is a second year MSM Finance student with a corporate finance emphasis. She is currently interning at BioEnterprise.