Summer Internship Recap: Saying Goodbye to Monroe

Over the past summer, I had the privilege of interning for Monroe Systems for Business. As my summer comes to a close and I begin the upcoming semester, I wanted to take a moment to look back on the many meaningful and unique experiences I’ve been fortunate enough to have as an intern.

Throughout the summer, I worked with my co-interns Devyn and Andrei, in a think tank environment. Here, we developed marketing and sales strategies for the team. Rather than serving as receptionists or performing data entry for the summer, we were each given creative input. Our supervisor encouraged us to make substantial contributions to the company. A typical day for the intern team consisted of meetings with Sales & Marketing Manager, Jason Marsdale, collaborative group projects, as well as thought-provoking personal projects.

This experience exposed us to business tools such as Slack, Asana, Close.io, and SmartProcure. Going forward, we’ll have a leg up on our peers when applying for careers post graduation. Together, we produced the Monroe Bro, a promotional video highlighting the quality and durability of Monroe’s calculators, while adding a touch of humor and personality. We contacted with Warren Buffet and gave out 300+ calculators in Philly to help promote the Monroe brand.

Devyn Jacot, a senior at Quinnipiac University, designed and implemented a modern social media strategy for Monroe. This campaign will continue to serve Monroe long after her internship, utilizing Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and Instagram. Devyn was able to expand on her education as a marketing major, developing her writing skills through writing copy for blog posts and internal documents.

Andrei Petre, a senior at Rutgers University, developed a statistical model of the company’s pricing in Microsoft Excel. This project served as a practical application to enhance his studies as a student at Rutgers, all while helping Monroe keep prices competitive in the calculator and toner markets. Also a marketing major, Andrei expanded his professional skill set to include an in-depth understanding of Microsoft Excel, pricing models, and website development.

And as for myself, Scott La Rochelle, a sophomore at George Washington University, I helped launch the business on a new platform, Amazon.com. I also helped develop a referral marketing program for Monroe, as well as updated and re-cataloged entire product lines. As an economics major, this internship provided me with invaluable insight into the practical aspects of business.

Additionally, each of us produced content for the Monroe blog. These posts ranged from business tips to social media strategies to using productivity apps. If nothing else, we’ll leave Monroe knowing we expanded our writing portfolio and helped Monroe to expand its website content.

Under the guidance and leadership of some great people, we gained experience and insight into the business world. We explored what we want to do with our futures. We gained some stories for interviews and for the dinner table. Furthermore, each of us will leave a little bit smarter than when we arrived. As an intern, I grew and achieved more than I have during any semester at school. In conclusion, I can say this was a summer well spent.