In the summer of 2009, Rita had internship with Conner Strong located in Marlton, NJ. She admits that the commute was rough and hard to get used to. However, the area was nice and her first day there was at the new company headquarters! Her internship was in the claims department and her boss was the VP of claims. The whole summer she and another intern were rotated throughout the claims department, which allowed her to have a few mentors. Some daily tasks included claims reporting and saving documents to database (Sagitta), which was a great way to become familiar with the Sagitta system and the filing protocol of Conner Strong. Everything she was asked to do related greatly to her RMI classes, although she feels like she would have been able to perform the same without them. However, all the tasks did help her strengthen and expand on the previous knowledge she already gained from her RMI classes.
Her interviewer ended up becoming her boss, and she received a pretty good idea of the internship from her interview. In addition to her daily tasks, she also created a reporting procedure reference sheet for contractors in an OCIP and designed the whole thing herself (she even hung it on her fridge afterwards)! Some additional benefits included attending the 50th Anniversary Party, participating in an intern “Amazing Race” in Philadelphia, attending lunches with consultants and even the CEO, and an end of the summer intern reception and department pizza party. Rita really enjoyed the people that she worked with who were always willing to take time to answer questions and also that her work was able to make an impact. She was also very excited when she won the “Amazing Race” competition with a $100 prize. Over all she thinks the program is great and provides huge exposure to the business, although in the beginning the “real” work was intimidating she was able to learn a lot by getting thrown in to it right away. Thus, she would recommend Conner Strong because the company provided a wonderful environment for learning and they also are serious about recruiting Temple students for future jobs!