Kord Technologies, Inc.

Finance & Accounting Intern

June - August 2019 • Huntsville, AL

What I liked

I loved being able to get into the Defense industry and learning the language of government contracting. The people I worked with enjoyed their jobs and their work, even when it got stressful. They gave me wonderful advice and feedback, and truly mentored me in this role. Being able to use my skills, especially in Excel in a workplace was extremely rewarding. I was able to shadow several different departments and see how Accounting, Contracts, Quality Control, and Program Control all functioned. They also held informative luncheons to expose us to the different engineering projects going on. Kord let all the interns explore their entire company and view all their goings on.

What I wish was different

Their internship program was fairly new, so no concrete internship schedules were prepared. I prefer to be heavily structured and busy, and this internship was very flexible and unstructured. I let them know about this in my exit interview, and it's something they're looking to improve. Part of the issue for me specifically was that I was meant to shadow the CFO, and he wasn't available. So, I was instead placed in Program Control, and the head of Program Control hadn't specifically prepared to have a summer intern. She was a fairly recent hire. It was still a wonderful internship, and I feel like I made a difference at the company.

Advice

I was worried that I wouldn't know how to do much at this internship, as no classes prepare you for the defense industry. However, your employer will give you all the details you need to be successful and don't expect you to know everything when you're hired. I also didn't value this experience for its true worth until I'm looking for full-time positions. At the time, it felt as if it was an open door to Kord and wouldn't mean much to other employers. However, I spoke with another government contractor, and they were ecstatic about my experience with Kord and have scheduled an interview with me.

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