Aug. 2, 2018

John Broker and Jacob James, Moore School international MBA students set to graduate in May, were the first Moore School students to have the opportunity to intern with UPS Europe. The pair have been working on UPS’s Ireland Nightline integration marketing project this summer, helping the company plan the newly acquired firm’s marketing campaign.

“We both have a large say in what’s going on, which is nice,” Broker said. “We’re not just pencil pushers. We’re helping them make decisions.”

Having that hands-on experience while still in school is one of the things that attracted Broker to the program in the first place, and James agreed that it’s been “a great opportunity to learn” from a real company.

“It’s a great experience, being in school for a year and then being able to jump into a full-blown project with an international company,” he said.

Both had some international marketing expertise going into the internship, but the skills they found to be most crucial right from the start were their data analytics and presentation skills, which they picked up at the Moore School.

“I’ve been compiling data and sorting out insights,” James said. “And they want us to present to the board.”

Broker said he was particularly thankful for the presentation and professionalism skills he gained through professor Paul Bliese’s class. Learning these hard and soft skills and being able to immediately apply them in an internship have been excellent preparation for work after the program, they said.

“I’m learning some valuable things over here that are even surprising me, and I worked in several industries for about 10 years before coming into the program,” James said. “Being around people of this high caliber with these experiences is great, and it’s a privilege to learn from them.”

By Madeleine Vath