Intern Spotlight: Courtney Code

By Courtney Code, FCRH '15

This semester, I interned with Crown Books for Young Readers, an imprint of Random House Children’s Books.

 Because Crown is a new imprint, it includes only an editor, an editorial assistant, a designer, and an intern (me!). This dynamic was really central to my experience. Everything I did with Crown was indicative of what it’s like to work as an editorial assistant. My main tasks weren’t mail and copies, but rather drafting copy for jacket flaps and submitting my own editorial notes. I wrote readers reports advising my editor on potential submissions and offered editorial notes for books already acquired. I did research, drafted captions, and brainstormed titles. I can’t believe how much I’ve learned in just a few short months and how much I’ve been able to contribute in return. My co-workers really did everything they could to mentor me while also treating me as a peer with valuable input. I owe this experience to their attentiveness and trust.

While my voice was heard on Crown’s small team, I also got to absorb so much by working within Random House, a massive firm. I attended the annual meeting in January, where I was exposed to the complex machine that is the children’s books division. I learned about past successes and future plans, about the huge influence of Seuss books on sales numbers and Frozen’s dominance of children’s pop culture. Throughout the semester, I got to see how every division in a huge company like Random House – from editorial to marketing to design – puts individual stories into the world. For about 200 hours total, just a snapshot in the publishing world, I got to be a part of it all.

Luckily, my journey doesn’t end here. Due to an incredible dose of serendipity, I have been hired to assist the President of Random House Children’s Books this summer. After 25 years of service, her current assistant will be on sabbatical for five weeks, and I’ll be filling in. Throughout my time at Fordham, professors and counselors have always talked about the balance of luck and hard work required to break into the job market. Now, I finally understand the truth behind that theory.

A few weeks ago, one of the editors said to me, “We’re making books for kids. So, if we’re not having fun, how can we expect them to?” I’ve had loads of fun so far, working on books about dragons, time traveling iPhones, and angsty musical eighth graders. I can’t wait to see what the weeks to come have in store.  

Intern Spotlight: Amy Lyman

By Amy Lyman, FCRH '14

My merchandising internship at Lacoste was a truly wonderful experience. I am an economics major and I knew that I wanted to have a career in the business side of fashion. I have interned in a sales team for a designer and I wanted to try something new and learn from a different department. One of my responsibilities as an intern was to research market trends. I looked at the products Lacoste’s competitors were selling and presented them on power point, organizing the slides by style and trend. I did these projects for the Fall, Spring, and Summer seasons for men’s, kids, women’s, and accessories. These projects helped further my product and brand knowledge and helped the merchandising team know what styles are currently in the market.

Another one of my responsibilities was to report on pricing for different products from competitive brands. I reported on entry, core, and premium price for different items. Lacoste was coming out with a new line and it was my responsibility to give them a sense of what these products were selling for. I also used the computer system, Orliweb, to input product descriptions, pricing, and colors for the Spring/Summer collection that will be coming out in 2015. It was really interesting to learn a new computer system. One week, I went to a photo shoot three days in a studio in Brooklyn. It was during a storm when school was shutdown, so it was a pretty miserable commute. However, these were the most fun and experientially effective days I had during my internship. I helped direct the photo shoot and make sure the proper photos were taken. The photography team was really great to work with and it was a very lively, fun environment. 

It was really great to see the Spring/Summer line develop. My first month, I only saw sketches of the clothes and accessories. By the end of my internship, I was working with the actual products, and enjoyed a hands-on environment with a highly motivated team of staff. I really enjoyed my time at Lacoste and was happy to contribute to such a hardworking amazing team. 

Internship Opportunity: DigiStar Media

DigiStar Media is looking for a Social Media/Digital Marketing Intern!

The Social Media/Digital Marketing Intern will be responsible for a variety of assignments including: written and visual content creation for social media profiles for the agency and its clients, social media monitoring, research and analysis and competitive tracking.  I am looking for students who have a passion for digital marketing and communications with an emphasis on how businesses use new media techniques. Applicants should be active in social media and have excellent writing skills.  Experience with Adobe Photoshop and Illustrator is a bonus. Digital Photography and Video experience is a plus.

For more information and to apply today, head to CareerLink, Job ID# 28756.

Full-Time Opportunity: Opimatum Group

Opimatum Group, LLC is looking to hire a Health Care Optimization Analyst.

About The Firm:

Optimatum Group, LLC is a vendor management firm that focuses exclusively on the HR supply chain. Our turnkey solutions improve financial and operational plan performance through our multidisciplinary approach, including forensic analysis and maintaining existing vendor relationships, while increasing transparency and accountability.

Through our Employer‐sponsored Health Care Group, clients reap direct efficiencies of 10‐12% of their health care costs within one year, and 5‐7% in subsequent years.

For organizations with an edict of expense management, coupled with a culture of strong vendor management, Optimatum drives solutions at a time when wastefulness is a luxury we can all no longer afford.

About the Position:

Key Responsibilities:

-Providing data analysis support and interpretation of findings

-Participating  as a cooperative team member in projects involving other associates in the firm

-Utilizing exceptional conceptual and analytical reasoning skills along with being highly organized with strong planning skills and detail orientation

-Working through barriers to execution and broaden success

-Manage competing priorities and multiple work streams

-Being intellectually curious and committed to enabling a high growth company achieve enduring success

-Having strong professional development orientation

For more information and to apply today, head to CareerLink, Job ID# 31925.