POE Underwrites an Internship that Gave me More than Just a Job

August 22, 2020

I am very fortunate that because of POE’s internship stipend program I was able to complete two different internships.  The first was a two month internship at the Launchpad Project Management where I learned a tremendous amount that will serve me well in the future.The second, this past summer, was an eight-week internship at a start-up company based in Chicago called Upkey. 

At Launchpad I was a project lead of a team of eight with a group name Eisenhower Real Estate Group (EREG). My team and I were responsible for looking at a real estate property that could potentially be a great investment. We looked at multiple properties in Yolo County and San Joaquin County. We ended up picking a property in Stockton. As a team, EREG developed a business plan that resulted in a $43,091 profit. We utilized project management tools such as the PERT chart and the GANTT chart to help us with the project timeline. In the end, we pitched our business proposal to real-estate investors and placed second in the case competition.  Throughout the internship, I communicated to almost 400 people several times which helped me overcome my fear of public speaking because English is not my first language

During my second internship at Upkey, I was able to build my “professional toolkit” such as resume, personal website, and LinkedIn.  While at Upkey, I was mentored by a former Mckinsey consultant who was obtaining his MBA at the time. Every week we practiced case-interviews to prepare me for recruitment in Fall 2020. Some of my key accomplishments were hosting a workshop on capital gains taxation covering preferential and ordinary tax rate for long-term and short-term capital gains. In addition, I helped a company called OpenDoor analyze their position in the real estate market ​and made a recommendation based on data analysis, current economic trends, and competitor's market share and behavior. Lastly, I proposed a business idea with 4 co-founders to investors that modernized how we run errands. Overall, I built professional skills such as data analysis, public speaking, consulting, and improving my business acumen.

Thank you POE for providing a stipend for both my internships.  With POE's help, I was able to expand my network not only around the United States but all around the world and get on the ground experience to become more successful. 


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