Career Spotlight: Argyros School Student at Microsoft Jessie Dart Lands a Finance Internship in Seattle

October 16, 2015

This Career Story Spotlight is brought to you by Argyros School Career Associate, Madelyn Choy, Business Administration – Class of 2018. In the story below, Madelyn gives us a summary of her conversation with Jessie Dart, Business Administration – Class of 2016, and her experience as an intern at Microsoft this summer.

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How did you get the internship at Microsoft?

To get the finance internship at Microsoft, Jessie initially reached out to the Microsoft team to inquire about what she could do during her time at Chapman to be a top candidate for the internship. She then applied September in during her Junior year and finally heard back in January. She engaged in phone interviews and was flown out to Seattle for a series of additional interviews.

What did you learn and do at Microsoft?

“I was a finance intern in the Device Controllership team which tracks and allocates money for the research and development of devices. My team worked on all devices but I primarily worked on Hololens (augmented reality goggles) and other unannounced products (next generation devices). I supported finance rhythm of business activities such as month end close, forecast and budget. I would present each month during close meetings on the product planning of devices. I also had a lot of other projects such as doing a deep dive analysis on the costs going into Hololens. I also owned the COGS for a new product and was the main point of contact for it, as well as standardizing the reporting tools for the team.”

What skills did you gain from your internship at Microsoft?

At her time at Microsoft, Jessie learned how to act in the professional Microsoft environment and was taught the importance of communicating with coworkers, public speaking and group cooperation. “Speaking during large meetings was a big part of my internship. This was an important skill that I worked on often. At such a big company, I learned a lot about how a ton of different teams and departments all work together toward creating something new. Lastly, I learned that work can be fun if you are doing something you love at a company whose culture you fit in with.”

Any recommendations to others who would be interested in a similar internship? How can they prepare for the interview/application process?

To prepare for the interview and application process, Jessie recommends that you should get involved within the business school and or with other organizations that involve business and professional development. “I am currently the president of Alpha Kappa Psi and almost all of the other finance interns were either in business fraternities or heavily involved in multiple business school clubs.” More importantly she stresses the importance of showing the company how passionate you are about their products. “If others want to work for Microsoft or anywhere for that matter, they need to show how passionate they are about the company especially during in person interactions and in their cover letters.”

What tips can you give to someone who would be interested in getting a job offer through the internship?

“As large corporations, they really want to hire their interns because they don’t have to fully retrain and they already know that the person will like it and the company. Working hard is really the key to getting a job offer through an internship. Also, learning from your mistakes and showing that you have learned from mistakes will take you a long way.” -Jessie Dart

During Jessie’s internship at Microsoft, she was given the opportunity engage in a plethora of different activities such as team bowling, zip-lining, and attending Mariners and Sounders games. The interns were also surprised with a Maroon 5 concert and engaged in community service events to implement team building.