Final Week

This is my final week at Equity Trust Company. Last Friday we presented our projects to a group of managers, supervisors, and executives. It was a great experience to speak in front of so many high-level individuals and share my work. This presentation was a great way to evaluate my impact on ETC this summer and was very fulfilling. Also being able to get an in-depth look at what the other interns had been working on all summer was very interesting. I especially like Adam's presentation of the new website he built, very impressive.

I am putting the finishing touches on a Knowledge transfer project and waiting to present our findings for the Account Open Process. But things are starting to wined down and the end of the summer is approaching fast.

End of Summer Rush

Over the past two weeks I have been immersed in the Client-Sales eVantage Integration project. The requirements gathering and testing have kept me so busy that occasionally I work 10+ hours a day to finish my weekly deadlines for our agile project methodology. The latest requirements I have been working on include trying to automate the Coverdell Education Savings Account (CESA) application into eVantage and working on prototype web page for online Bill Pay. I will be presenting these requirements in my weekly Friday project meeting.

Tomorrow also marks the final day with my fellow interns at Equity Trust :(
We will be presenting our final presentations to the executive team and all of the supervisors and mentors that have worked with us this summer. It should be a very fun and emotional day as we will say goodbye to several of the interns/friends that have successfully completed their internship at Equity Trust. It has been an amazing experience working with all of the interns and I will definitely miss working with them on a regular basis. It truly is remarkable that Equity Trust has not only left us with a memorable work experiences but also memorable relationships.

The Final Week...Or Not!

This week was technically supposed to be my last week with Equity Trust, which when I come to think about, is kind of sad. However, I recently had a change in school plans, and am not going back to school until January of 2011. I spoke with my manager and was able to get an extension on my internship! The accounting department is expected to be extremely busy within the next couple of months with their conversion to a new type of accounting software, so I knew it would be appropriate to talk to my manager about continuing with the company. Plus, I was going to be available, so it just seemed to work out.

On other topics, with this being the last week of work, we (all of the interns) are required to do a final presentation to the executives and managers talking about our experience with ETC. It is always fun getting together with all of the interns because we all get along so well, even if it is something like working on a presentation. Our next couple days are filled with lots of presentation practice, and then we present on Friday. It should go pretty well, everybody seems to do well with presentation skills. We shall see! :)

Final Details!

Last week, we had the college meet and greet, which was a lot of fun. Each intern was to try to invite a advisor, professor, or other representative from our home schools, as well as individals from other universities and colleges. I met a few very helpful people, and everyone was very excited to hear all about what Equity Trust Company has to offer regarding internship opportunites, and sales and customer service opportunies for recently college grads!

So now, It is my last week of my internship at ETC! I must say, these past 12 weeks have gone by just too fast. This week I am finishing up any last deatils to my projects, as well as preparing my presentation about my experience. All the interns are to present a 20 minute presentation to the management teams. I am very excited to share all that I have been working on all summer!

ETC Culture & Presentations

My agenda for the second to last week at Equity Trust is to collaborate with Adam, one of our HR interns to make a video for the website that will exemplify the culture of the firm. It has been nice to work with another person on a project and share ideas and opinions of how the package should be portrayed. Everyone should check out the video on our new career website! Not only does the video have a 3 day deadline, which is quickly approaching, but also the six interns are preparing to present our final presentations to the executives, managers and mentors of the company on Friday. We each will speak for 15-20 minutes about our experience and what we have learned along the way...and believe me, there's a ton!
I have truly enjoyed my summer at Equity Trust and I have gained amazing real world knowledge that I can apply to aspect of my life.

Working on financial close

Since I have started working at ETC as an intern, I have helped others in the accounting department complete some of the tasks in the month-end close process. There are many steps to take that I have been responsible for each month. When I first started, these processes were very confusing to me, and much guidance was needed in order to finish. Last month I still needed quite a bit of guidance. This month, however, I was able to complete the bank reconciliation and the cash proof for both companies with much less assistance than prior months. I still asked quite a few questions, but that is expected as an intern. It was really rewarding to be able to do this on my own (for the most part) and really contribute to the efficiency of the whole process. It is also nice to see my own progress from within the first couple weeks to just a few months later.

This week I am back at the Berea office working on a new project. I am enjoying the ability and opportunity to work on different project with different people. It is allowing me to develop different skills and providing me with different experiences. The project itself has been very enjoyable and my input has been utilized. Although I am new, I feel I am adding value to the project. Once complete we will present to a team of managers, supervisors, and executives. This is another great opportunity for me to gain exposure with in the company and will be very beneficial for me and my career. More to come!