Internships are a critical first rung on the career ladder and, at Schneider Electric, interns have the opportnuity to get an inside view of the company via a wide range of fields that match their training. Two women, Agnes Broden and Fatemeh Dalilian, have benefited from their internships in different ways and share their experiences as part of the Schneider Electric family.
Agnes Broden, Sustainability Intern
Agnes is a Sustainability Intern for Schneider Electric in Washington D.C. She will be graduating with a B.B.A in International Business and Marketing from the George Washington University. In her free time, Agnes enjoys traveling, visiting new places with her friends and family, and conducting research projects that combine the areas of business and sustainability.
Schneider Electric opens up invaluable opportunities
An internship at Schneider Electric has been a series of serious responsibilities, exciting experiences, and invaluable opportunities for Agnes. These include meeting the environment representative of a U.S. congressman on Capitol Hill, discussing climate policy with some of the largest companies in the world, and putting together sustainability projects from scratch for a company with over 140,000 employees across the world.
"When I get home after work and call my parents from across the Atlantic Ocean, my excitement for my work takes over. Being a part of Schneider Electric has opened me up to a new reality," comments Agnes.
Schneider Electric supports its interns
Since Agnes's first day as a sustainability intern for Schneider Electric, every employee Agnes has met has shown a genuine interest in teaching her about the company, specific internal positions, and the industry as a whole. Prior to taking on her role, Agnes was familiar with Schneider Electric due to the company’s strong commitment to sustainability and ethics. Now, thanks to the internship, Agnes has been able to witness first hand how it's possible for a large company like Schneider Electric to integrate a genuine commitment to sustainable practices in every role. With an internal network built around easy access to communication amongst employees, regardless of role or location, it's possible to access instant and transparent information at any time.
"If I have questions on a specific project I am working on, the right person to ask is only an email or Skype call away. At Schneider, the traditional company hierarchy is replaced with a modern, interconnected relationship of employees where all voices and ideas matter," says Agnes.
Schneider Electric values its interns
At Schneider Electric, Agnes never feels like a temporary intern: she feels like a valued employee.
"The trust and confidence my supervisor puts in me makes me eager to not only work hard, but to learn about things I didn’t even know existed a few months ago. Whether I am calling local government offices trying to decode hundreds of pages of environmental regulations, writing articles on energy system innovation, or researching the details of how a microgrid works, I find myself always wanting to learn more. It may sound cliché, but in one of my absolute favorite cities in the world with endless things to experience, my nine-to-five job has become the best part of my summer," comments Agnes.
For anyone currently looking for an internship, Agnes guarantees you will find your area of interest at Schneider Electric, regardless of how specific it may be. With a diverse range of positions in everything from sales and customer service to innovation and technology, it is possible to practice any area of business through the lens of sustainability.
"I am so happy to have found my place at Schneider Electric, where I am able to continuously grow my professional, as well as personal skills. Throughout all departments, regardless of size and geographical location, there is a single green thread tying it all together. When you are part of Schneider, you are not just a part of a family. You are part of a life that is on," adds Agnes.
Fatemeh Dalilian, Manufacturing Engineer Intern
Fatemeh Dalilian is a Manufacturing Engineer Intern at Schneider Electric, Smyrna, Tennessee. She graduated with a Master of Professional science in Engineering Management from Middle Tennessee State University in December 2017. Fatemeh loves to work in cross-functional teams and has a true passion for optimization and building decision making models. She is going to pursue her passion through doing a PhD in the field of Industrial Engineering. In her free time, she likes to swim, hike and spend time with her family and friends.
Schneider gives invaluable internship opportunities
When it came to choosing a career path, it was clear to Fatemeh that her passion was leading her towards a career where she could optimise, manage, design processes and solve problems. In pursuit of her passion she started her internship at Schneider Electric’s Smyrna plant, after meeting with the quality team at Schneider as part of a school project and being advised by the manager to apply for an internship with Schneider.
"I really wanted an internship where what I did mattered and where I could learn more while feeling a sense of accomplishment. I was also curious about how Lean and Six Sigma principals are carried out in production of such complex highly customized products," says Fatemeh. "When I received word that I was hired, I was thrilled! Having already known a bit about the company, I knew I was going to fit in just fine."
Schneider develops key skills
"There are various reasons to consider interning at Schneider Electric, but perhaps the most worthwhile is being part of the company’s significant projects and making meaningful contributions while learning new things. Through the tasks I performed, not only was I continually acquiring essential skills that were directly connected to my previous training in my master degree, but I also further extended my understanding on key concepts and theories," says Fatemeh.
Fatemeh has been involved in quantitative analysis of data on complexity mixes of orders, historical usage of sub-assemblies, and labor hours needed per one unit. Through her internship, she was able to learn new analysis methods that dealt with more complex processes and apply them to real world problems.
Another key skill Fatemeh has developed thanks to her internship at Schneider Electric is communication and interaction with other employees from many different backgrounds and different skill sets.
"I soon found out one of the projects I had been working on for a few weeks painfully didn’t work, because I should have first understood the needs and concerns of the people who were going to use the result of my project and got them to buy-in," says Fatemeh. "That’s when I started to talk more about what I was doing, how it would benefit us all as a team, and incorporated others’ ideas in my project."
During her internship, Fatemeh also attended several Kaizen sessions where she had the experience to learn the value of incremental changes and continuous improvement to achieve results. These sessions taught her the value of teamwork as cross-functional teams with different mindsets and expertise got together to solve common problems.
"I can say these sessions were truly a practical example of skills I was taught in my leadership class and believe I am going to use these methods in my professional as well as personal life," says Fatemeh.
Schneider makes its interns feel part of the family
One of the factors that made her internship a unique experience was meetings with Annette Clayton, CEO of Schneider Electric North America, a normally rare opportunity in large companies such as Schneider Electric. During Annette's plant tour, Fatemeh had the chance to present what she and the other interns had been working on. Fatemeh was pleased that Annette acknowledged the significance of the interns’ work in the success of the company.
"I found her to be a friendly and inspiring woman, and her questions to be detailed and specific, yet simple and to the point," says Fatemeh. "The experience of interacting with ordinates in higher ranks was so encouraging, and the way they treated us as interns made us feel that we truly belonged to the company and were a very important part of the Schneider Electric family."
Schneider helps interns in their future careers
Fatemeh says her internships at Schneider Electric helped helped her learn to think in a different way about solving problems. She learned the importance of paying attention to teamwork, communication, and having a constructive attitude.
"This experience opened my eyes to new opportunities and positively changed my ambitions for my career goals. In addition, it provided me with an exceptional opportunity to assess my strengths and weaknesses and to explore and discover areas of interest – which can greatly help me in choosing a career path that is a better fit for me. Now, I know what functional roles in a company can better match my skill set and my personality which will help me peruse my long-term educational or career goals with a brighter and broader view," says Fatemeh.
Join talented interns like Agnes and Fatemeh at Schneider Electric
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