Career Services Spotlight – Ryan Young, MPA ’19, Con Edison
Being a Strategic Partnerships Co-op Intern at Con Edison has mirrored so many of the concepts I’ve learned matriculating through the Marxe School MPA program. I found the opening on CareerConnect and there were two rounds of interviews. Before the second interview, I prepped with Marxe’s Graduate Career Services to brush up on my question and answer expectations.
I’m honored to have broad access to Con Edison’s community grants program as well the employee volunteer initiative, which are integral components of the Con Edison corporate affairs strategy. At the moment, I am working with program managers to develop new evaluation and reporting methods for community partner grantees.
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) is a trendier term for what I am doing now but, I expect it to become more and more of the norm as consumers raise the ethical expectations for large companies. Ultimately, community development is a realm I see myself gravitating toward after graduation and I am one that thinks CSR will play a large role in that process.
My advice to students seeking an internship is to perform deep dives into your focus area. By doing this before you even write a cover letter, you can frame your expertise or desire to work in the company around the challenges they currently face or those on the horizon.