National Intern Day 2020
College to Corporate internships looked different for students joining the crew at Vanguard this year– but the foundation remained the same. Whether it was teamwork, community outreach, or bonding with peers, interns were virtually welcomed into departments across the company, where they made lasting contributions. In this video, a few of our interns share insights from their experiences:
Camila: Hi everyone my name is Camila, I attend the University of Texas at El Paso. I am a College to Corporate Business Intern, and I am currently working with the Vanguard Retirement Plan Access Department this summer.
Alex: Hello everyone, my name is Alex I am a rising junior studying computer science engineering at the University of Michigan and I am a College to Corporate Application Development Intern, working with the Enterprise Advice division at Vanguard.
Natasha: Hi! My name is Natasha and I am C2C Investment Management intern this summer under the Transaction Cost Analysis team. I’m a rising junior at the University of Michigan, pursuing a dual degree in finance and computer science, with a minor in Music.
Camila: And I’m going to show you what a virtual intern does on a day-to-day basis. So since I am a virtual intern I am working remotely from my hometown and I basically made my kitchen into an office. This is my kitchen table.
Natasha: Welcome to my room converted into an office.
Alex: Due to the remote nature of our internship, we use Microsoft Team and Outlook mainly, to stay connected with each other.
Camila: I get to meet with leaders, I get to talk to my managers, really cool things that I didn’t know I was going to be able to do from home.
Natasha: I can still stay fully connected with rest of Vanguard. We have a lot of different events like game shows and community service.
Alex: Even though the internship is remote, the company has also done a great job to make sure we’re still able to network and connect with the other interns. Two weeks ago, we had a virtual team building session where we bonded with all the other interns remotely.
Camila: I have been able to participate in Vanguard events, and trainings, and so many things virtually.
Alex: Later today I have an intern project meeting around lunchtime, to update our technical leads on our progress. I am currently working on a project team with four other interns to develop an internal web application.
Natasha: For some of my project so far, I’ve been working mostly in the FX and Treasury Future space.
Camila: So for my project I am actually working in my department of Vanguard Retirement Plan Access. And I’m helping with the Sales Territory Map Analysis. As you can see I have a lot of meetings so I do my project work in between.
Alex: Vanguard also assigns each of us a buddy and a pod leader that acts as mentors, and we have regular meetings with them as well.
Natasha: As part of the internship, I get two buddies. One of them is on my team, and then the other one is in the rotational program. Having a buddy helps me to get acclimated to both the company as well as my team, and acts as a resource that I can just ask quick questions to.
Alex: Overall, the College to Corporate Internship gives us a view into how Vanguard uses technology to solve business problems, and to help people achieve their financial goals. Right now is also a very interesting time to work for Vanguard, because technology is a key strategic focus for the company. This provides ample opportunities for us to work on cool projects, which will be used by real customers and/or business functions.
Camila: My experience so far has been an amazing one. I have been able to connect with leadership, I’ve been able to connect with my interns that have really enhanced my experience here. I feel so fortunate to be a part of a company that really goes out of their way in making sure that their interns get an amazing virtual experience.
Natasha: As you can see, despite the virtual internship experience, everyone at Vanguard can still stay fully connected with each other. I hope you enjoy this little insight into a Vanguard intern’s life.
Alex: Thanks for watching.
Natasha: Don’t forget to follow @lifeatvanguard.
Camila: On Instagram and all other social media. Thank you.