The upside to college internships: Part 7

Hayley Kosloski – Customer Care

Hayley is the second intern I met prior to being hired at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®. Hayley and I grew up dancing together when we were young. She is the Customer Care intern and is, and has been since our dancer days, a people person. Her noticeable ability to communicate effectively and connect with anyone through a conversation is an asset to TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®‘s customer service department. Here is what Hayley had to say about her internship.

Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background?

A: I grew up in the Haslett/East Lansing area. I now am attending Michigan State University and will be starting my junior year there in the fall. I currently have two other jobs in addition to my internship; I’m a waitress and a dance teacher.

Q: What made you apply for an internship with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

A: I have been looking to gain experience in a more business focused position, and so when my aunt told me that TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® was looking for interns, I decided to give it a try.

Q: Can you please briefly describe your usual day-to-day tasks at the office?

A: When I get to work the first thing I do is listen to the How’s My Driving voicemails and read through all of the Customer Care emails – that takes a while. After that I set aside time to audit job sheets. Lastly I go to the front desk to answer the phones and assist with other reception tasks.

Q: What has been the most valuable thing you have learned here so far?

A: The most valuable thing I have learned so far is how to manage my time and get everything accomplished. I work with Customer Care, the FBCs, Training and Development, and Human Resources, so sometimes it is a challenge to make time for everyone and everything.

Q: Who would you say has been your best teacher or mentor here and why?

A: I have learned a lot of things from a lot of people here, but I would say that my best mentor/teacher has been Denise Drosha (Quality Control Manager). She always goes out of her way to make sure I know exactly what to do and is always coming up with new projects and tasks for me.

Q: How do you think you will be able to apply what you learn this summer to school, future interviews/jobs or life in general?

A: The things that I have learned so far will apply to all aspects of my life. I have learned so much about customer service and interacting with people. Being able to communicate and understand peoples’ needs is one of the most important skills to have and will help me a lot in the future. I have also learned better time management which will help me with school, and lastly I’ve learned a lot about the way all departments work together in a successful business. This knowledge will help me with pretty much any job I get in the future.

Q: Has your internship taught you anything about your field of study that surprised you?

A: I was surprised to find out that there are so many different departments, people, and aspects to running a successful company. The complex organization was something I was not previously familiar with.

Q: What do you believe is the best aspect of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® as a large international company?

A: I believe the best aspect of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is that it started as a family company. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is now a large company, but it has strong core values, and considers them when making any and all decisions, and I think that is due to the family-feel that is still apparent throughout the company.

Q: What is one goal you hope to accomplish this summer/what do you hope to take away from your internship?

A: I hope to walk away from this internship with a basic knowledge of what it takes to run a successful company since I hope to open one of my own someday.

If you are interested in working at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® visit our careers website.

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The upside to college internships: Part 6

Orlando Gillespie – Franchising Development

Coincidentally, Orlando and I attended the same high school and college, and we are now working in the same internship program. But until witnessing Orlando in the TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® environment, I had not seen the impressive confidence and professionalism which he displays at the office. When I sat down with Orlando for this interview, I noticed he had a well-spoken manner about him which will prove to be a valuable asset to TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® this summer. Here is what Orlando had to say about his internship:

Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background?

A: I am from East Lansing, Michigan, (woo woo!) and am graduating in December from Michigan State with a supply chain management degree and a minor in philosophy and law. I love sports, hockey and playing some roller hockey, watching sports, spending time on the computer, and reading.

Q: What made you apply for an internship with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

A: I have known the company since I was a kid but recently I met CEO Brig Sorber through a mutual connection, and really liked what he had to say about the company. He told me a lot about the core values and how they like to treat everyone and it made me really want to pursue the internship.

Q: Can you please briefly describe your usual day-to-day tasks at the office?

A: I sit in a lot of meetings with both franchisees and the corporate franchising team. We often discuss whether or not a potential franchisee would be a good match and make decisions. I also often do research on other companies’ franchising strategies and write up a report to share with the team.

Q: What has been the most valuable thing you have learned here so far?

A: Probably how I have been able to learn many various aspects of business, not just franchising.

Q: Who would you say has been your best teacher or mentor here and why?

A: I would probably have to say Tom Parks, (Business Developer) because he is always providing real life examples when explaining things to me. I like how he doesn’t glorify everything, he just tells me straight and to the point.

Q: How do you think you will be able to apply what you learn this summer to school, future interviews/jobs or life in general?

A: I would have to just say the business skills and general knowledge I’m getting here will help me in the future, no matter what path I take.

Q: Has your internship taught you anything about your field of study that surprised you?

A: It has taught me how important logistics and the backhaul to a system is and how much money it can save in real life situations if done right.

Q: What do you believe is the best aspect of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® as a large international company?

A: The core values are really important; they have a great set of values that I relate to personally. Also the value the company puts into customer service and how much all of the employees really value their work.

Q: What is one goal you hope to accomplish this summer/what do you hope to take away from your internship?

A: A goal I have is to bring an idea to the table that will update a systematic process and that the company will continue to use my idea for years to come.

If you are interested in working at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® visit our careers website.

The upside to college internships: Part 3

Kasey Trierweiler – Accounting

Kasey is one of two accounting interns here at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. I met Kasey the first day of our internships in the lobby while we were all nervously awaiting direction from the human resources department. Since then we have had a few good conversations about business, hometowns, and mutual friends. I was able to sit down with Kasey and have a more in-depth conversation about her experience here at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®. This is what she had to say:

Q: Tell me a little bit about yourself and your background?

A: I grew up in Grand Ledge, Michigan, and attended Grand Ledge High school. I am now a junior accounting major at Madonna University where I play college softball. During my free time I like to golf and hang out with friends. My previous jobs included working at a shoe store and being an umpire for softball, but I find my internship more entertaining and practical than either past experience.

Q: What made you apply for an internship with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®?

A: I know Jeff Wesley, the CFO, through his daughter, and he gave me an offer to come in and work this past winter doing filing and other miscellaneous jobs they needed done. While participating in that role, I was told about the internship program being offered during the summer, so I decided to apply to the accounting department.

Q: Can you please briefly describe your usual day-to-day tasks at the office?

A: It changes a lot, but recently I have been working on getting things done for audits, pulling out files from previous years and making sure Michigan sales tax was applied. I’ve also been working on franchises’ income tax statements.

Q: What has been the most valuable thing you have learned here so far?

A: I have learned the value of communicating with your department to make sure everyone is on the same page. It is important because with a big company like this, there is so much that needs to be done and often times there are three or four people working on different aspects of the same project, so communication is key.

Q: Who would you say has been your best teacher or mentor here and why?

A: I would say Dena Omer, (Accounting Assistant), because whenever she gives me a task she explains why I am doing it and why it is important. She also encourages me to ask questions and does a great job answering them.

Q: How do you think you will be able to apply what you learn this summer to school, future interviews/jobs or life in general?

A: I’ll be able to apply my enhanced understanding of accounting in general while in school and in trying to get a job. The practical knowledge I’ve gained has been more valuable than anything I’ve learned in a text book and it will provide great talking points for job interviews.

Q: Has your internship taught you anything about Accounting that surprised you?

A: I learned that accounting is not just one department. There are many different segments it is broken into and different directions you can go with it.

Q: What do you believe is the best aspect of TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® as a large international company?

A: I love the company culture. It is very laid back and friendly. Everyone at the office is very nice. I like how it’s not strict and you don’t have to be on your toes all the time. It’s a big company but it feels small.

Q: What is one goal you hope to accomplish this summer/what do you hope to take away from your internship?

A: I hope to take away a better understanding of what area of accounting I want to pursue in the future. I have taken interest in the financial analyst area of it and the accounting team here at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® has been really helpful in allowing me to test the waters in financial analysis as well as other areas I am interested in so I can explore what specialization might be the best fit for me.

The upside to college internships

Written by Brooke Weatherford

Internships are a valuable opportunity for young adults and college students desiring to enter the workforce to gain real-world experience performing job duties in their related field of study. Today, having a college education is becoming more and more common, and internships are beginning to step into the role as the experiences which can set a potential job prospect apart from the rest. This year was the first time TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. offered this opportunity to seven students, and I was lucky enough to be one of them.

Enter Brooke Weatherford. I am the marketing and sales intern here at the corporate office. Six other interns and I started our assignments May 20 at the conclusion of spring semester at Michigan State University. My assignment ends in late August, right before I head back to campus for the fall semester.

I am originally from East Lansing, Michigan, and am a junior marketing major in the Eli Broad College of Business. This is my first internship, and I’m happy for the opportunity to get involved with such a great company. In my free time I enjoy painting, volleyball, seeing live music, and spending time with my friends and family. I applied for the internship with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® when my mom heard about it through a mutual connection, and she mentioned it to me. She instantly had my attention when she told me it was paid, and the company was international and growing rapidly. I was sold on the idea after checking out TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s social media sites and seeing all the amazing things they were doing both in marketing and in the community.

My day-to-day tasks at TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® are always changing. Two days out of the week I work at the corporate-owned Lansing franchise with the marketing director, Sherry Campbell. She keeps me busy writing blog posts, updating the local webpage, creating coupons, assisting with grass roots marketing efforts, and a host of other marketing tasks. The other two days of the week, I work at Home Office where one day I assist with corporate marketing (such as drafting this blog!), and the other day I assist the sales team. The sheer versatility of tasks I handle has provided me with valuable hands-on practice in many different areas of marketing, and I am very thankful for that.

My best and most helpful teacher has been Sherry Campbell, marketing director at the Lansing franchise. She is always getting me excited about my work and is very patient and helpful, answering any and all questions I have. She also goes out of her way to invite me along to meetings and networking events she attends. I will be able to apply what she and the other members of the marketing and sales teams have taught me in my classes, and when speaking of my past experience and business knowledge to future job interviewers.

One thing I have learned about my field of study which surprised me is the level of importance communication and teamwork marketing a business takes. At TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® I see firsthand the constant communication which occurs between team members and with outside sources. As an international company, TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® has a few key qualities which make me believe it to be a special place to work and learn. TWO MEN AND A TRUCK® is a family-owned business and prides itself in family values such as caring for people, inclusion, giving back to the community, and (my personal favorite) “The Grandma Rule®”, which is to treat everyone as if they were your grandma. These core values, along with TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®’s relaxed friendly atmosphere, set it apart from other large franchise businesses. I really like that, even as an intern.

Over the next few blog posts, I will virtually introduce you to the six other interns from each department, giving you a feel for what it is like to participate in a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. internship. I will also explain the value an internship program provides to college students and the companies for whom they work and give you an idea of what might be in store for you, should you apply for a TWO MEN AND A TRUCK®/INTERNATIONAL, Inc. internship next year.