Featured internships for Summer 2023
Airbnb — Minhas Wasaya
Airbnb — Minhas Wasaya- Internship Title: Strategic Finance & Analytics MBA Intern, Technology and Infrastructure
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?
The position was posted in our Tech Club Job Board on Airtable – which linked to the Airbnb website, I applied there. - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
I created an interactive model to project Airbnb’s cloud computing usage and spend through the next 7 years. To develop the model and its assumptions, I had to dig into a ton of data to understand how cloud products and subproducts were impacted by company activities, and how that tied to spending. This also required interviewing many engineers.
The most interesting part of this whole thing was adding in the AI components. I had to research how AI development and deployment would impact cloud usage/spend, learn what the company’s plans were for AI in the near and medium-term, and then build that specific impact into the model – keeping it flexible and nimble as the technology will evolve quickly, so the model must respond to those changes to stay relevant. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
Being a member of all the different student orgs (professional, affinity, and just fun clubs) really helped me interact with people from all backgrounds and journeys. This was instrumental in helping me learn from my colleagues at Airbnb who all worked on different teams and had different backgrounds. - Job before CBS?
I was a Senior Underwriter at AIG, focused on Renewable Energy
Amazon — Trina Leung
Amazon — Trina Leung- Internship Title: Product Manager-Technical at Amazon (Alexa AI)
- Location: Sunnyvale, CA
- How did you find your summer internship?
From the Amazon corporate presentation on campus last Fall (I applied on their MBA internship website). - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
I was at Amazon's devices division (Amazon Lab126) and I worked on the new Alexa LLM! It was a very challenging but ultimately rewarding internship — I learned a ton over the summer, as generative AI is a rapidly-evolving field. A lot of my work this summer involved reading about AI and deep learning, learning what worked (and didn't work) in prior product iterations, and understanding technical constraints in order to build a minimum viable product. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
The Tech Club recruiting resources (casing workshops, mock interview prep, etc.) were particularly helpful, as was Intro to Product Management. I'm currently taking Digital Product Management Lab, which would have been helpful for my internship if I had taken it during the 2nd semester of my first year! - Job before CBS?
Senior Data Scientist at Course Hero
Apple — Kerry McNeilly
Apple — Kerry McNeilly- Internship Title: MBA Intern, Operations Program Management
- Location: Cupertino, CA
- How did you find your summer internship?
On COIN, CBS’s on-campus recruiting platform - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
It was great to see how one of my favorite consumer brands operates! I loved getting the opportunity to work in Apple Park and contribute to the Audio and Home team, one of Apple’s fastest growing product lines. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
The core Strategy course helped me understand Apple’s competitive advantage, which in turn allowed me to appreciate why the work I was contributing to over the summer mattered. Outside of the core, Professor Singh’s Operations Strategy course helped me build out my strategy skillset from an operations perspective, which was also very timely. - Job before CBS?
Pre-CBS, I worked as a Process Engineer and Project Manager at Benjamin Moore Paints for 5 years. In this role, I supported Capital Improvement projects at 5 manufacturing plants and 1 R&D site. I did everything from replacing old equipment to scaling up new technologies and expanding facilities.
CAA — Jason Vincze
CAA — Jason Vincze- Internship Title: Business Development Apprentice
- Location: Los Angeles, California
- How did you find your summer internship?
My strategy was to cold email and cold call. Ironically, the actual job came through the very first person I asked, who is a friend from the cluster. - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
Unfortunately I'm not allowed to name any specific projects, but it was great experience in a new sector (CPG) that I had never seen before, and I learned a lot about the storytelling aspect of brand creation. I also learned the power of social media and how most all media is interwoven into the consumer economy. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
Advanced Marketing, if talking classes, since it was centered precisely around CPG. I speculate, however, that RLG would have also been a great resource if I were a member. - Job before CBS?
Private Credit Associate at MidCap Financial, a subsidiary of Apollo Global Management
CBS Sports — Priyanka Javlekar
CBS Sports — Priyanka Javlekar- Internship Title: MBA Intern - Digital Business Development & Partnership Management
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?
The Media Management Association posted Paramount’s MBA Summer Internship information and then I applied through the company website. - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
I worked closely with senior management on strategy for acquiring soccer sports rights to bolster our coverage and increase viewership across key Paramount platforms, including CBS Sports Golazo and Paramount Plus - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
Strategy was the most useful class as the job requires strategic thinking and game theory to gain the buy-in of internal and external stakeholders in the ever-evolving industry of media. - Job before CBS?
Corporate Finance & Strategy at the National Basketball Association
Electronic Arts — Lucy Milstein
Electronic Arts — Lucy Milstein- Internship Title: Product Manager, Customer Experience
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?
Company website - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
EA offered an engaging and rewarding opportunity to build a foundation as a product manager, gain experience in areas where I was weak, and dive deep into questions of user experience and business strategy that I find exciting. I was lucky to be supported by managers and peers who took the time to guide and train me, while making me feel like a valuable part of the team from day one. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
Reflecting on my first year at CBS, I'm most grateful for the opportunity to explore new subjects and job functions I hadn't previously encountered. The 'Foundations of Innovation' course, teaching frameworks of human-centered design, was particularly pivotal as it presented a path to combine my interests in journalism, creative arts, and psychology with more analytical topics of business strategy and commercial viability. This exploration helped me find a career I'm truly passionate about in product management, which I've been able to delve into even further through my internships and role as co-president of Columbia's Innovation and Design Club. - Job before CBS?
Before CBS I spent three years in tech/media strategy consulting, and a year doing bizops/product strategy at an edtech startup.
Google — Daniel Fuchs
Google — Daniel Fuchs- Internship Title: Solution Consultant at Google
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?
I learned about the internship opportunity at Google through an on-campus event held at CBS, and applied directly through their Careers page. - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
One of the most captivating projects I worked on during my internship involved assessing the existing digital solutions and services for Mobile App customers in the Ads business and identifying opportunities for improvement. The most fascinating aspect of the project was the chance to collaborate with more than five teams, allowing for comprehensive oversight of the Mobile App Ads business, covering areas from sales to product development teams.
My top advice for having a successful summer internship is to approach it with enthusiasm, a genuine eagerness to learn, and a willingness to contribute your unique ideas and perspectives. Moreover, don't forget to connect with your teammates and colleagues from other teams to build strong relationships and make the most of the experience. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
The core experience, in general, I believe was crucial during my internship at Google. Classes such as Business Analytics and Valuation enabled me to develop strong analytical skills for evaluating the current digital solutions and services for Mobile App clients. Meanwhile, classes like Lead helped me present my analysis findings and recommendations effectively and advocate for their implementation. - Job before CBS?
I worked at Matrix Consulting as a Senior Consultant.
NBA — Jacob Pardo
NBA — Jacob Pardo- Internship Title: Intern, Content Partnerships, NBA
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?:
Networking with current students and CBS alums at the NBA - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
This summer was a strategically crucial one for the league, which is pursuing a renewal of its current national media rights deal. Additionally, in light of the ongoing bankruptcy of Diamond Sports Group, the league is trying to reimagine what local-market distribution might look like in the future. Sitting with and learning from the people leading those efforts was the highlight for me. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
The sports media industry is quite small, and the power of institutional knowledge is strong. Media Platforms and Content with Professor Sarvary was a great crash course on the history of the industry and the various regulatory regimes that have helped shape it. Being able to converse at a high level with my team was essential both to getting the job and to performing well in it. - Job before CBS?:
Associate Vice President, Structured Products, Barclays
Paramount — Sophia Lin
Paramount — Sophia Lin- Internship Title: Strategy MBA Intern, Consumer Products & Experiences
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?
Through the CBS alumni network - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
Developing an investment model for Paramount to evaluate the profit potential of Broadway investments - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
Corporate finance and accounting were helpful starting points for the financial modeling portion of my project. Entertainment and Marketing of Celebrity Businesses was an interesting primer into the celebrity and brand deals side of the media industry. - Job before CBS:
VP of Product at a NYC-based fintech company
Playground — Jessica Waldman
Playground — Jessica Waldman- Internship Title: MBA Marketing Associate at Playground
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?
Someone in the CBS Class of 2024 posted about the internship in our #job channel on Slack. - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
I had the opportunity to immerse myself in an early-stage startup, which was a completely new environment for me. We were a 12-person team, and it really was all-hands on deck; my work was not limited to just marketing, and I ended up working closely with both the sales and founding team as well. It was fascinating to get an insider’s look at all the challenges and opportunities that are constantly arising as an early-stage startup develops its growth strategy. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
It’s hard to pinpoint just one class or experience, as there were so many moments during my first year at CBS that contributed to my preparation for this internship. But if I had to pick something, I would choose the Paramount Case Competition in Los Angeles that I participated in with 4 of my classmates back in February 2023. This was an intense, hands-on opportunity to solve a problem in a very limited amount of time. While the problems we were solving at Playground were of a different nature, the case competition prepared me to find structure in an unstructured environment, and to work closely and effectively within a small team. - Job before CBS:
I was a professional actor, yoga teacher, and private academic tutor before CBS.
Sony-PlayStation — Jonathan Budnik
Sony-PlayStation — Jonathan Budnik- Internship Title: Strategy and Portfolio MBA intern
- Location: San Mateo / New York
- How did you find your summer internship?
Internet search - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
Supporting the expansion of the portfolio of first-party PlayStation games to other genres and platforms. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
Working in a multicultural setting with people from diverse backgrounds. - Job before CBS:
BCG consultant
Uber — Justin Pedley
Uber — Justin Pedley- Internship Title: Strategy & Planning MBA Intern, US & Canada CommOps
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship? CMC hosted a coffee chat with Uber representatives on campus in the fall. When the internship was eventually posted online later in the year, CBS' Tech Club notified its members that applications were live.
- Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
The primary summer-long project that the CommOps strategy team tasked me with was incredibly open-ended in nature: how can Uber leverage its extensive global support infrastructure in innovative ways to better drive value to both the business and its users? While the problem itself was interesting to solve for, I believe that the biggest benefit from the experience was the ability for me to collaborate with stakeholders across several different orgs at Uber, allowing me to connect with individuals that I typically wouldn't have had the chance to meet. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
Given that I was working on the strategy team, I naturally found the core's Strategy Formulation class to be the most relevant and helpful over the course of my internship. In it, Professor Dan Wang provided our class with several useful frameworks to employ when diagnosing and solving common challenges that businesses face. While these lessons certainly came in handy during the internship itself, more importantly perhaps, they also greatly prepared me for the interview process. In fact, the capstone case for the class was on Uber, which provided incredible insight into the business and ultimately had a big hand in me landing the role. - Job before CBS?
I worked on the strategy team at Slice, a startup based in NYC working to provide digital ordering and enablement solutions to independent pizzerias. I also spent two years in strategy consulting at Accenture after graduating from college.
Warner Bros. Discovery — Na'ima Jenkins
Warner Bros. Discovery — Na'ima Jenkins- Internship Title: Global Franchise Management and Marketing MBA Intern
- Location: New York, NY
- How did you find your summer internship?
LinkedIn - Most interesting project/takeaway from the summer?
General Overview: Supported the development and implementation of global franchise strategies, marketing, and partnership campaigns, and activation plans for Warner Bros. Discovery Classic Animation portfolio including Scooby-Doo, Looney Tunes, and Tom and Jerry.
My final project: Developed a presentation outlining Scooby-Doo’s fandom touchpoints, illuminating the rationale for integrating the franchise into annual Halloween product planning for licensees and retailers; included marketing strategies, specific overview and ideas for retail and audience segmentation based on 3 key thematics. I presented my presentation to the executives on the Global Franchise Management and Marketing team. - What 1st Year CBS class/experience was most useful during your summer internship?
The Class: Entertainment Marketing & The Crafting of Celebrity Businesses
The Club: The Marketing Association of Columbia (MAC) - Job before CBS?
I was a Senior Account Executive & Global DE&I Strategic Lead at Hill+Knowlton Strategies (A WPP PR agency)