Reputation Brings Bell to Jenkins MBA; Internship Reinforces her Decision

“I know several people who have gone through the full-time and part-time programs and had terrific educational experiences while at State,” she said. “In fact, my husband graduated in May 2007 and I started the following fall,” she said.

“From these former students, I had the opportunity to see first-hand the amount of individual and personal attention given, exemplifying the program¹s commitment to each MBA student. The NC State Jenkins program’s challenging and interesting course work, top notch faculty, and career services prepares students for the next step in their professional careers,” she said.

Internships are an important part of the career development process in the NC State Jenkins MBA program. This summer, Bell completed a marketing internship with Hanesbrands, an experience that fit her professional goals.

“I am pursuing a career change with my MBA, so it was very important that I have a structured internship with a key project that provided in-depth exposure to marketing,” she said. She saw that “the Hanesbrands internship would provide this exact experience – a structured internship with a measurable project that would enable me to solve a real problem for the company in an environment that would be challenging and utilize my new MBA skills. Furthermore, I would have the opportunity to work on well known and respected brands with a supportive and collaborative team,” she said.

That’s exactly what she found at Hanesbrands.“I was fortunate to be joined by many other talented interns from other MBA programs. Having other marketing MBA students around was an unexpected learning opportunity. Since we were placed on our own projects and teams, we learned a lot about the company, marketing, and the brands through our discussion about our individual projects,” Bell said.

“The project also provided the perfect opportunity to learn more about the field of marketing, market research, and the apparel industry in an enriching and supportive environment. All the while, I was able to contribute and give back to the company with the facilitation of my project, the collection of historical and new data, and my recommendations for the future of the brand,” she said.

“In the end, I successfully facilitated the direction of a brand in innerwear. This was aided by the fact that my supervisor made every effort to ensure that I had all the resources and support I needed to complete my project,” she said.

“Throughout the summer, I was very fortunate to have interesting work and many professional challenges that fostered my development in the marketing field,” Bell added. “It truly has been a significant stepping stone for my professional career. This opportunity solidified for me that I made the right choice by pursing an MBA and plan to work in the consumer goods industry after graduation.”

Bell learned about the internship opportunity through the Carolina MBA Connection career fair website. The annual career fair is organized by MBA career resources professionals in the NC State Jenkins MBA program as well as those at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Duke University. The 2008 Career Fair will be held Feb. 20, 2008. Details are available from the NC State Jenkins MBA Career Resources Office.