Senior exerts confidence, employs business principles through Sherwin Williams internship
The name Sherwin-Williams is typically associated with images of paint brushes, paint-splattered overalls and endless amounts of paint cans. However, when Kelly Simpson, a senior majoring in marketing and international business, hears Sherwin-Williams, she can't help but think of real-world experience and future success.
Through the UC Denver Experiential Learning Office's InternLink Web site, Simpson connected with the Sherwin-Williams Company and learned about their internship program. After a telephone and face-to-face interview, the international paint manufacturer hired her for the summer 2008 semester. The 12-week-long internship included all aspects of working for the company, from lugging around gigantic buckets of paint to presenting her final project to Cheri Phyfer, Sherwin Williams president of the Southwestern Division, in Dallas.
Throughout her experience, Simpson found that her Business School education enabled her to confidently and competently perform the wide variety of tasks assigned to her. "Even classes like finance and accounting were helpful because a lot of the store's finances are handled by the store manager and not corporate. So being in the store I got to see things I'd learned in class in action," she says. Even for her final project, which focused on customer service techniques for do-it-yourself (DIY) shoppers, Simpson's educational background in marketing was a "huge help."
Besides working in one of Sherwin-Williams' retail locations, Simpson and the 41 other interns from the Southwest division were flown to Dallas where they spent three days at the regional headquarters. All interns gave 10-minute presentations about the topic they covered in their projects, and in the end, Simpson's DIY customer service project won her third place recognition.
Peter Miller, marketing instructor and faculty member responsible for internships, sees these experiences as a bridge. "From a prospective employer's point of view, the student with an internship experience certainly has a positive differentiation factor to consider when hiring new graduates."
As Simpson's final semester in college comes to a close, she is fortunate enough to have been offered the opportunity to enroll in Sherwin-Williams' Manager Training Program, a six-week series designed to prepare employees to become assistant managers. Following graduation, Simpson plans on beginning the program.
