Internships office

Hi Helena! Can you tell us how you ended up doing this internship?
I was looking for a summer internship in Montreal after my 2nd year. I planned quite early because I'm from the Laurentides: in October I started applying everywhere and got no response. After a few weeks, I started to get discouraged.
During the pandemic, I babysat for the child of someone with whom I had a very strong bond, who happened to be VP Marketing at Bombardier. She forwarded my CV to her team and after 2 interviews they offered me an internship in January.
As I was looking for a summer internship, they agreed to take me on part-time between now and the summer. I was supposed to finish at the end of august, but in the end, I was extended until December.

What were your tasks?
Surprisingly, there wasn't much in the events field, and most of my tasks were in finance: the events team manages a multi-million budget for large-scale events, mostly outside the country. So, there were very few local events.

Were you disappointed?
At first, I was surprised, but at the same time I was happy because it gave me the opportunity to learn about things I'd never done before, such as Excel, SAP and payment processes.
I was still able to talk to my team about it, and then finally I was able to do a bit more local event planning.

What were the highlights of your internship?
I was in a private open buffet box at the President's Cup (a prestigious golf event) with 36 clients, and at Canadian Business Aviation.
Above all, I got to chat with Toto Wolff, the big boss of F1 Mercedes! It was incredible: I shook for 24 hours. As a rural girl from the Laurentides, I never thought I'd have that kind of experience at my age.
An internship is so much more than a 9 to 5: it opens so many fun opportunities.

What did the internship bring you personally?
The internship helped me understand what I really like and what I don't like. It allowed me to validate what I want to do and where I want to go.
That's why I think it's very important to do an internship: by doing it while you're studying, you can graduate knowing right away where you want to go.

What advice would you give to a student who's hesitating about doing an internship?
Not wanting to go on an exchange is one thing. Not doing an internship, I think, is a big mistake.
There are so many benefits to doing an internship: you can make money, gain independence from your parents, you'll learn what you like and don't like... and what's more, if it's credited, you have one less course to do!
If you've never done an internship and you've never worked during your studies, you can hit a wall when you leave school and find yourself doing things that don't suit you.
And even if you didn't like your internship, at least you'll have learned something: that you didn't like it 😊

Did this internship open any doors for you?
I'm passionate about motorsports. What it has in common with the aviation world is that it's the same clients: someone who has a private jet often has a luxury car. In motorsport, things happen in Europe, but my LinkedIn network was just accounting and finance students in Montreal.
This internship enabled me to broaden my network of contacts, especially geographically.

What did you learn from this internship?
The internship helped me understand the role of each department in an organization: why HR, marketing and sales are needed just as much as legal.
I also understood in concrete terms what was behind the vocabulary that seemed very vague to me: Q1, Q2, return on investment..., etc. now it speaks to me! I learn much better by trial and error, and doing an internship really suited me because it was very concrete.

Would you like to do another internship?
100%! But more in marketing because that's my specialization. I want to see the other side of things. Maybe in a smaller company.

Helena will be attending the Share your internship eXPerience event on January 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Salle Madrid (CSC), alongside other students who have done an internship. If you'd like to chat with her, sign up now!

Hello Olivier! Can you tell us what made you decide to do an internship?
I couldn't really see how I was going to handle a job with just theory. School isn't real life: it's a preparation. Doing an internship was a way of getting a better idea of the job I could get in my chosen specialization.

What did you do during your internship?
I was involved in all the accounting related to expenses for deputies and parties.

How did you find it?
I sent out CVs all over the place. I was interested in politics, so I didn't hesitate to apply to the assembly. And to my great surprise, I was selected!
I applied 5 months in advance because the recruitment process is quite long.

What surprised you most during your internship?
I was surprised by the quality of the supervision: we were 3 interns, and our superiors really took the time to coach us. We had 2 hours a week of specific training on accounting, in addition to the follow-up of our tasks!

Tell us what you liked the most about your internship.
I loved seeing what happens behind the scene, where the public doesn't have access: being able to walk into the assembly, the private corridors, the underground passageways, running into deputies being interviewed by the media in the corridors.
I also really enjoyed not being behind a desk all day (like at school) and meeting people. And in business, it's important to have contacts!

And what did you find most challenging?
Adjusting to new tasks, to a new place, and to new people: I realized that everyone had different ways of working and that you had to adapt to everyone.

Did this internship open any doors for you?
Yes, I've converted my internship into a student job: I'm back in the classroom, but I'm still doing hours remotely and at my own pace. I don't have a minimum or maximum number of hours: I work when I can and that's ideal!

Is there anything you didn't expect?
I thought I was going to be doing basic tasks, but I was invited to take part in the assembly's steering committees: they asked me for my opinion a lot and they took it into account. It was really rewarding!

What advice would you give to a student who's hesitating about doing an internship?
Take the plunge and give it a try.
Also, in accounting, the Big 4 are highly valued, but I'd also advise them to look elsewhere: in a smaller structure, you can learn lots of different things. And just because you're not in a Big 4 doesn't mean you won't do well!
If you want to land a job you love, it's not your HEC diploma that's going to make the difference: it's your work experience.

What did your internship teach you?
I learned a lot about accounting standards specific to the public sector - because we don't talk about them in the classroom.
I also acquired a lot of soft skills: being quicker and more efficient in my day-to-day tasks, or solving problems with an open mind, for example.

Did the internship enable you to take a step back from your studies?
Yes, I realized that all the courses were based on rote learning, whereas in the job market you don't need to know everything by heart: you just need to know how to look for information.
I also realized that a 4.1 GPA isn't going to make you any better at your job.

Olivier will be attending the Share your internship eXPerience event on January 22 from noon to 2 p.m. at Salle Madrid (CSC), alongside other students who have completed an internship. If you'd like to chat with him, sign up now!

Hi Alyssa, how was your internship?
I loved it!

Tell us more
I really liked this internship because it ticked all my boxes.
I loved the corporate culture, and particularly the importance given to DEI (there are a lot of committees encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion). It really made me feel good at work.
I also loved the learning curve potential: I got to work on a bit of everything and on different mandates.
Secondly, I felt very supported by the team: they were always available to answer any of my questions. Finally, I really appreciated the number of resources available, whether on AI, IFRS or the company.

What surprised you the most?
When I told my father I was going to do an internship in a Big 4, he said something like “You're going to find yourself stuck in an office all day, working crazy hours and not talking to anyone!“ Well, not at all! I connected with a lot of young people through numerous social activities. I really felt that I was in my element.

What impact will your internship have on the rest of your career?
This internship has enabled me to get my DESS winter internship 😊
The fun thing is that I'll be working with the same people!
I've even got a job for life, as a lot of interns are hired afterwards.

When did you start looking for your internship and how did you find it?
I found it at the start of my second year in the fall: I went for it even though I hadn't had many specialized courses.
I went to a lot of recruiting and networking events organized by the Comité CPA. Then I connected on LinkedIn with the people I met. I saw on their LinkedIn profiles that they were organizing office visits, so I went along. There I was able to talk to partners and senior managers who recommended me to the recruitment team.

What did your internship bring you?
The internship confirmed my choice of specialization. I know I'll be working a lot harder during my DESS internship, because it'll be during the busy season, but in this environment, it suits me. It's the lifestyle I've chosen.

What was the most challenging part?
The first week of training was very theoretical and there was a lot of information. I wondered if I was going to be able to do it, but in the end, I realized that I was just stressed by the change: in less than a week I felt better because I was well supervised and had the right resources.

What advice would you give to a student who hesitates about doing an internship?
Get out of your comfort zone! Even if it seems vague now, it'll become clear after your internship.
It's by jumping in and trying something new that you'll surprise yourself.
And also: your LinkedIn profile is very important, it's Number 1! It's the place where you can make a good impression with extracurricular activities related to the business world in particular. Being active and having a good profile are brownie points.

Alyssa will be attending the Share your internship eXPerience event on January 22, from noon to 2 p.m. at Salle Madrid (CSC), alongside other students who have completed an internship. If you'd like to chat with her, sign up to the event!