Summer is coming to a close, but the lessons learned throughout the season have the potential to last far beyond Labor Day. Take these dynamic internship opportunities, for example. USC Iovine and Young Academy students managed to make the most of their break from school these past few months, taking on summer stints at companies from Amazon to PayPal to Microsoft. 

Not only did these now-seniors gain valuable work experience and learn new skills, they got the chance to network, forge lasting relationships, and put their IYA skills to the test while exploring their passions.

Previously an intern at Apple, Senior Melody Chen interned at Amazon for the second summer in a row – this time as a UX designer in the AWS Fintech Product Management UX team. There, she wore “many hats,” doing everything from creating working prototypes for full-fledged design systems to leading user outreach and research across user groups and teams. 

The position proved to be a natural fit for her interest in product design and management in emerging technologies, allowing her to flex her problem-solving muscles through situations that challenged her to think ahead, deal with ambiguity, and further examine the future of the fintech industry.

“Working in such a fast-paced team environment at AWS allowed me to grow quickly. The high standards at which my team members operated raised the bar for me to understand how to communicate effectively, collaborate efficiently, and to deliver not only delightful customer experiences but also business impact and change,” she shares. 

She notes that IYA “laid the perfect foundation” for her role because of its intersectional focus. 

“My work experience was at the convergence of creativity, technology, and business acumen, as I needed to combine the lenses of the innovative approach of UX design, technical understanding of feasibility and quality, and market implications to finance. That was where my IYA experience comes into play, as my blend of skills to draw from various disciplines helped me approach problems and projects with a holistic mindset,” she shares “Finally, being able to present my work also defined a crucial part of my success, which we have a lot of experience with at IYA. The confidence and logical framework that I carried when presenting was a testament to my training here.”

As a Custom Research intern with market research company Marketcast, Shanna Finnigan’s summer job centered around research projects from clients in the TV and film space, working on qualitative and quantitative studies that ranged from audience segmentation to franchise strategy. 

Despite Finnigan’s enthusiasm for design and research, she admits a previous unfamiliarity with the market research space prior to the eye-opening role. The internship allowed her to delve deeper into the human-centered side of analyzing and creating for peoples’ needs, feelings, and emotional responses. 

“The theme of this past summer has been ‘storytelling through data,’ she explains. “Over my time at Marketcast, it was awesome to see the research process come together –  from asking the right questions, to organizing and analyzing data, to communicating succinct insights.”

Jasmine Liao took on a Product Manager role at PayPal over the summer, where she coordinated with stakeholders, while making sure teams aligned on goals for products. Overseeing the lifecycle of a product, from conception to delivery, helped her cultivate her communication, presentation, and time management skills. Organization was key, she notes. Plus, her perspective gave her an indispensable edge.

​​”PMs work with many different teams spanning across these disciplines, so having a well-rounded knowledge proved very effective. Additionally, IYA taught me effective presentation skills and nurtured an entrepreneurial mindset, which enabled me to generate good ideas that resonate well in corporate environments,” she describes.

Alicia John’s summer included working as a design researcher intern for design strategy firm verynice (shout out to the company’s founder, Professor Matthew Manos), where her clients included the American Heart Association and the Rural Opportunity Institute. When she wasn’t developing slide decks and graphics, she conducted stakeholder interviews, and created toolkits, case studies, and trend reports. 

“I got a lot more hands-on experience, doing work that interns don’t usually get to do due to the encouraging and supportive environment. I gained a lot of skills such as working with various clients at the same time, creating engaging workshops as well as learning how to effectively run them, and most importantly going outside of my comfort zone by focusing on the strategic part of design as opposed to the visual side,” she shares. 

Connie Xu experienced life as a Technical Program Manager intern at Microsoft in the Azure Data team, enjoying the sights and sounds of Seattle along the way. In addition to building business insights behind the release for data analytics solution MS Fabric, she was able to collaborate with engineering and design teams on features for the product. Why was the opportunity meaningful to Xu? She got the chance to foster her love for tech while acquiring firsthand business and design know-how, further pointing her in the product manager direction. 

“Growing up, when I was asked what I wanted to do in the future, I gave a different answer every time. A software engineer, a product designer, a venture capitalist -- I genuinely had no idea. All I knew was that I wanted to work with tech one way or another. It was only later on in my collegiate career that I discovered the world of PMing (a discipline that meshes business, tech, and design into a single occupation).”

While Xu says received the mentorship and support she needed to flourish at Microsoft, she also credits her IYA background with bolstering her success. 

She adds, “The weekly pitches we've had to give since freshman year helped me build the soft skills needed to communicate and convey my ideas efficiently. The project-based learning experience made the transition from operation in university to corporate seamless.” 

IYA students managed to make the most of their break from school these past few months, taking on summer stints at companies from Amazon to PayPal to Microsoft. 

How I Spent My Summer Vacation: Internship Edition