This Biz Major Had 11 Internships

This Biz Major Had 11 Internships by: Naomi Nishihara on May 23, 2017 | 0 Comments Comments 2,080 Views May 23, 2017Angela Zhou during her internship at IBM. Courtesy photoHow many internships should you do during college? Its  a question posed by many. For some, one is enough, as long as it’s a good one. Others say students should aim  for one internship each summer. For recent graduate Angela Zhou, the answer was simple: As many as it took to figure out what she wanted to do. In her case, during four years of college, she did  11.Eleven internships. Why so many? She was looking for the right job, of course.FOUR YEARS AT THREE SCHOOLS ON THREE CONTINENTSZhou’s search for the right internship, and consequently the right field for her career,  is related to where she got her undergraduate degree. As part of the  World Bachelor in Business program, she spent her four years in college at the University of Southern California, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, and Bocconi University in Italy.  She graduated with her BBA in May.â€Å"Originally, my dream school was Georgetown, and I wanted to study foreign policy. I never planned on studying business,† Zhou  says. â€Å"I thought maybe I would get an MBA someday, but I didn’t think I would major in business for undergrad.She chose the World Bachelor in Business for the international factor, and because  she hoped to be able to pursue some of her other interests via internships, for which she started applying as soon as she started school. SHE ALWAYS WANTED TO LEAVE HOME FOR COLLEGEAngela Zhou in Milan. Courtesy photoZhou grew up in Southern California, but she  always thought she would leave home and go to college on the East Coast. USC wasn’t really on her radar until she found out about the World Bachelor in Business program, which was brand new when she applied. Around 45 students from around the world are accepted each year. They all spend the first year at USC, the second year in Hong Kong, the third year in Italy, and the fourth at the university of their choice. Zhou, like  most of her classmates, chose to return to USC for her  fourth year.â€Å"It has been an amazing experience, and I’ve been fortunate to study and work in three different economic zones across America, Asia, and Europe,† Zhou  says. â€Å"I feel much more well-versed about politics around the world, and I feel like the program has allowed me to get intimate details about other cultures.† WHY SO MANY INTERNSHIPS?But Zhou  wasn’t completely sure about business. â€Å"Everyone else in the program was really pressured to go into consulting, or things like that, she says, and I wanted something different.But what, exactly? She wasnt sure. So she decided to figure things out through  internships. At first, Zhou  wanted to explore writing. During her first two years of college she landed marketing internships at Cosmopolitan, Marie Claire, and Lucky magazines.Angela Zhou in Hong Kong. Courtesy photoâ€Å"It was sort of a childhood dream of mine, to combine writing with my interest in fashion,† she says. But as things turned out, magazine work wasn’t the right fit. She wanted something a bit more stable, so she explored content, branding, and consumer behavior at Target. But there, too, Zhou  thought she might find a better fit elsewhere. â€Å"So I tried finding companies that had commitments to social issues that I was passionate about,† she says.In Italy for her third year of college, she interned with Microsoft and helped host a conference for the companys Pink Cloud Initiative, where women in and around Italy could participate in STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math)  classes. For her fourth and final year of college, Zhou  returned to the U.S. and completed three more internships: as a business development intern for IBM, as a digital organizing f ellow for Hillary for America, and as a project management intern at Johnson Johnson. Page 1 of 212 »