Viking Voices: Marguerite Ortiz '22 on her Bertolon Internship Experiences

Curious about what college internships look like? Recent Bertolon School of Business alum Marguerite Ortiz shared her experience as an intern.

My name is Marguerite Ortiz (‘22) and I am proud to say that I am now a Salem State University alumna.

My indecisiveness and yearning for community in college led me to the Bertolon School of Business where I concentrated in marketing. In addition to my classes, supportive professors, and on-campus jobs, being able to participate in internships in my time at Salem State University helped paved my path to success following graduation.

I worked my first internship at Healing Abuse Working for Change (HAWC) in the summer going into my senior year. HAWC is a Salem-based non-profit organization that provides services to those affected by domestic violence. In my time there I worked very closely with the Director of Business Development taking on multiple tasks such as research, direct mailing, inputting donor and gift data, office organization, and social media management.

In the spring semester of my senior year, I secured the role of PR & Marketing Intern at 617MediaGroup. This communications and public relations agency is one that solely serves American unions. In my role there I worked with my team and six different clients. The bulk of my work focused on copywriting, email management, social media management, drafting press releases, and project management. In the end, I was able to extend my internship and was offered a full-time position following graduation. I am a strong believer that there is only so much you can learn in the classroom before getting your hands dirty and preparing for the lifetime or work ahead of you.

My experience as an intern taught me about teamwork, reliabilIty, organizational behavior, and much more. I am very grateful that I was able to secure two internships in my time at Salem State University.