Interns at Work: Matthew Kiser ’16 Jobscience, San Francisco, CA

“I was making a real impact on the company, which was a very unique and lucky experience.”

How did you learn about this internship?

I learned about the internship through Dr. Shay, the faculty head of Venture Club. We were talking one day in the fall before the summer about summer plans, and he mentioned this internship as an exciting opportunity to be in the heart of the technology world. So I contacted the company to learn more.

What gave you the edge in landing this internship?

My W&L education gave me the edge in landing this internship. As well as my willingness to learn.

Describe your daily duties.
My daily duties changed throughout the summer. I would split my main functions into four categories: sales, marketing, finance, and business intelligence. Over the course of the summer my sales function evolved from following their inbound lead program to building it from 4 pages to ultimately 20+ pages. Then I trained two new hires on the program. My marketing efforts were focused on social media management, i.e. scheduling tweets and posts to Facebook, LinkedIn, and Google+. My finance duties were to compile the financial statements, tailor the forecasting model to suit the company’s needs, and conduct analysis on ARR based on client industry. My business intelligence assignments were geared towards making dashboards in Salesforce to better understand the company’s clients.

What was your favorite part or perk of the internship?

The incredible responsibility that was entrusted to me. I was making a real impact on the company, which was a very unique and lucky experience.

How did you like living in the city where the internship was located?

Living in San Francisco was amazing. The culture and food in the city was incredible.

What key takeaways/skills will you bring back to W&L?

The many soft skills I learned by working in the culture that I did.

What advice would you give to students interested in a position like this?

My advice would be to utilize an experience like this as a way to learn as much as you possibly can, and seek out a place that will give you real, impactful responsibility. You must continually ask the question “Is there anything I can do for you?” and always say, “yes.” People want to hire and work with people who have a tenacity to learn, and if you can demonstrate that, then you will be extremely successful.

Will you pursue a career in this field after graduation?

Since I performed so many different functions, there are some that I would like to do and some I would not.

Describe your experience in a single word.

Enriching. My experience in San Francisco and at Jobscience enriched so many aspects of my life that I am incredibly grateful for the opportunity to have my experience there.

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