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By Danielle Burkhart
 Many
students would consider cold calling random
people difficult and would view the
‘not-so-nice’ comments that they receive in
return, as somewhat discouraging. Katie
Cloud, a senior majoring in Business
Administration: Management, said such
experiences “teach you how to handle
objection and rejections.”
Cloud spent her summer interning with
Northwest Mutual located in Philadelphia.
She began her day at 7:15 a.m. and worked
between eight and 12 hours per day Mondays
through Fridays.
Cloud had all of the
responsibilities as a full-time financial
representative. She attended meetings daily
starting at 10:00 a.m., and attended more
meetings and consultations in the afternoon.
It was Cloud’s responsibility to build her
own client base via phoning during the first
few weeks of the summer. Cloud worked on
building the client base each day from 8:45
a.m. until her meetings at 10 a.m.
It was required for the
interns to report their numbers to the
college directors. Their numbers included
the number of appointments set that day, the
number of people that were called, the
number of people who were reached throughout
the day.
During Cloud’s
internship with Northwest Mutual, there were
16 other interns and three college unit
directors. College unit directors are
full-time financial representatives who also
completed the internship program at
Northwest Mutual.
“All three college
directors let us know that things like
rejection, is something that they also went
through when they were in the intern
position,” said Katie.
Other advice that the
College unit directors gave to the summer
interns was that there wasn’t a brick wall
in front of them, and that they could
succeed in this business.
Katie Cloud’s
internship at Northwest Mutual directly
related to her career goals because it
helped direct Cloud to the sales industry
where she was initially interested. Cloud
worked with people one on one and had
meetings with prospects to get referrals.
Throughout her internship, her career goals
began to lean more towards management rather
than sales. After learning and enduring the
hardships of sales, her interest in
management grew.
Every intern has at
least one moment in which they will not
forget. “Selling my first policy was the
most memorable moment. I was the first
intern to sell a policy, and it happened
quicker than expected, said Cloud. Most who
intern with Northwest Mutual sell their
first policy in July opposed to June when
Cloud sold her first. This was a great feat
for Cloud.
Cloud describes her
overall experience as great and beyond what
she had initially pictured. “I didn’t expect
to be thrown in so quickly, even though the
company did tell us that we would be able to
run their company,” Cloud added.
Cloud said her
Marketing and Financial Management classes
helped her during her internship especially
when she was required to pass a difficult
state exam in order to even get the
internship.
”My internship enhanced
my employability and gave the interns
experience of running their own businesses
as students,” said Cloud. “I learned that I
could interact with adults on a professional
level.”
Cloud’s confidence in
herself and her ability to work in the
professional world has grown through her
internship. “Anyone who is interested in
interning with Northwest Mutual, there is a
lot of work but is very rewarding in the
end,” said Cloud.
Katie Cloud found her internship with
Northwest Mutual through the Career Services
Office at Lock Haven University. Northwest
Mutual is in the top ten for
best internships for business majors.
If you’re unsure about where to begin
looking for an internship, contact Anita
Casper, Internship Coordinator for Career
Services, at 570-484-2247 or
acasper@lhup.edu,
or visit her office in the Career Services
Office at Akeley 114.
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