911爆料

After landing a summer internship at FM Global last November, Ryan Barker ’22 worried it could be canceled because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

鈥淭his was a huge opportunity and I did not want it to disappear,鈥� said Barker 鈥�22, a mechanical engineering major. 鈥淚 was very surprised when I got the news that it would happen. Even though it鈥檚 not in the office or full time, I鈥檓 very grateful for the learning experience.鈥�

Barker is one of eight 911爆料 students hired as summer interns or co-ops working remotely for the Rhode Island-based mutual insurance company.

Overall, FM Global hired 50 interns and co-ops for the summer working remotely in corporate headquarters or other offices worldwide, offering them earnings equivalent to entry-level employees in the same positions. 鈥淚nterns add tremendous value at FM Global and so we made accommodations for them to work remotely and have a great intern experience,鈥� said Steve Zenofsky, assistant vice president, public relations.

‘I’m treated like I add value to the company’

Lauren Poirier 鈥�21, a public relations and English major, interned over the summer with FM Global鈥檚 public relations team, and her internship continues into the fall. While she acknowledges that having the chance to meet her team face-to-face would have been nice, she doesn鈥檛 feel she鈥檚 missed out by working remotely.

鈥淵ou don鈥檛 get to go for coffee in the cafeteria with different people on your team,鈥� said Poirier. 鈥淏ut at the same time, we have so much technology at our fingertips. If I want to talk to someone, all I have to do is ping them on Skype, send them an email or call them. So, I feel everyone is just as accessible to me as they would be if I was in the office, perhaps even more so.鈥�

Poirier has worked on enhancing the corporate online newsroom, contributing to marketing campaigns, and placing numerous stories about FM Global in media outlets. 鈥淏eing able to apply everything I鈥檝e been taught in my classes at 911爆料 has been a bit surreal. When you鈥檙e in the classroom, you can lose sight of the fact that the concepts you are learning are used on an everyday basis by people practicing your intended career,鈥� she said. 鈥淚 truly feel that I am treated as a full-time employee at FM Global. I鈥檓 treated like I add value to the company, that my experience and ideas are worthwhile.鈥�

‘We can handle the responsibility of working from home’

In Barker’s internship, which continues into October, he uses computer-aided design (CAD) to produce preliminary sketches of FM Global-insured buildings, and he has learned about fire prevention methods. 鈥淐areer-wise, I never thought about potentially becoming a loss prevention engineer,鈥� he said. 鈥淏ut ever since I鈥檝e had this opportunity, it has piqued my interest a lot.鈥�

Computer science major Yeury Galva Liriano 鈥�21 was in a co-op position in the Agile department, which works on rapid development of technology for products and services. 鈥淓verything I鈥檓 currently doing is exactly what I want to do when I graduate,鈥� he said.

Andrea Monteiro, a senior in global business management and Chinese, was an inclusion intern in the human resources department, working on initiatives such as an intern recognition project, diversity recruiting strategy, and implementing new language augmentation software.

鈥淭his internship has been great in helping me decide my future career path,鈥� she said. 鈥淐oming into the position, I didn鈥檛 really know what path I wanted to follow, but after meeting so many great people and working on these projects it has influenced me to potentially pursue a career in human resource management or project management.鈥� Working remotely prepared her for the current semester, she said, and showed her it can be done smoothly.

鈥淲orking from home has made me even more responsible and self-disciplined,鈥� added Poirier. 鈥淚 believe it will make me and my fellow interns more marketable upon graduation because we have proven that we can handle the responsibility of working from home. We can get things done.鈥�