The Cartus summer intern program was a resounding success again! Each summer, Cartus brings on board college-age interns to help with relocation’s busiest season in offices around the world. This year, Cartus hired more than 40 interns in its Danbury office, placing them in various departments including Client Services, Customer Finance, Moving Services, and Real Estate Services.
Our United Kingdom colleagues welcomed eight interns: two in the London office, working with the International team, and six to our Swindon facility, where they were divided between our Finance and Operations teams. Coordinated by Learning & Development Director Andy Hipkiss, the program was organized in partnership with the University of Western England, based near Swindon.
The Danbury interns’ slate of activities was full. After only a few weeks on the job, they had bonded with their co-workers and with one another. Their participation in Cartus’ culture was exemplified by displays of great enthusiasm, teamwork, and athleticism at the Cartus Olympics picnic and other events.
More than 40 interns were on the job at Cartus’ Danbury office this summer.
Human Resources personnel conducted various huddles on a variety of topics, from interviewing to public speaking skills and networking on social media. The interns also had the opportunity to meet with senior leaders in a leadership roundtable, an event that helped them understand the tools needed to succeed and grow. Since Cartus advocates giving back to the community, the Danbury interns also spent a day working in the community on a United Way-sponsored project.
A really wonderful part of the summer was seeing all of the interns’ successes and achievements! In Danbury, an intern reward and recognition committee (which included interns and an HR leader) held an end-of-summer celebration. Kevin Kelleher, president and CEO, spoke to the interns and thanked them for a successful summer. The interns also submitted essays to a contest whose prize was a $500 scholarship. The essays were based on their overall experiences and key learnings from their summer at Cartus. Zach Brazo won the scholarship with his essay about how his use of the customer service program called MAGIC helped him work through a difficult customer situation.
Cartus managers also submitted nominations of interns who demonstrated our core values and who were truly an asset to their teams. The “intern of the summer” winner was Madeline Naventi, who supported Client Services. In turn, the students nominated managers and mentors for awards, as well. The “manager of the summer” was Heather Satmary, and the “mentor of the summer” winner was Mike Battista.
Cartus interns make a difference; in fact, since January of this year, we have hired more than 10 summer interns as full-time employees! To all of you who have returned to your collegiate lives, we hope you have a great fall. Keep in touch!
Email this contributor at laura.kavanaugh@cartus.com.
