Internships are a must for any person wishing to enter the field they are interested in. Most entry level job positions require experience, and internships are the best way to get said experience. However, internship hunting can be just as difficult as job hunting, and it can be daunting.
Here at Carimus, we offer internship opportunities in marketing, software development, graphic design and business development.
Kaitlyn Welch joined the Carimus team as a graphic design intern in the summer of 2019. She continued working as a part-time employee while attending Appalachian State University as a senior. She found the internship opportunity while looking for design agencies for internship programs.
“I fell in love with their mission and values and was excited about the interesting projects they had posted on the site,” she said. “There was no posting for an internship that I could find at the time, but I decided to send an email anyway and see what came of it and ended up landing an internship.
At the beginning of Kaitlyn’s internship, she worked primarily on internal projects and marketing collateral. However, the more comfortable she became with the design process, she began working with clients on print projects, web design, animation and much more.
“I got to dip my toes into a little bit of everything that we do here at Carimus,” she said.
Coming from a primarily print background, so web and app development was new to her, and the opportunity to learn more about this digital world allowed her to grow as a designer.
“I’ve also been given the opportunity to learn a lot about video and animation, something I had always wanted to get involved with but never had the chance before working here,” Kaitlyn said.
Kaitlyn now works full-time with the Carimus team after graduating in May of 2020. The opportunity to stay with Carimus was a no-brainer.
“I chose to stay with Carimus because I really enjoy the work we do, the culture, and the people I get to work with,” she said. “I love that we are all encouraged to be creative, share our ideas, and learn something new as often as we can.”
Another one of our interns-turned-full-time-employee is software developer, Nick Conlon.
“I started this internship as a kid that liked to code and turned into a professional software developer,” he said.
Nick was able to expand on his skills, learning to write production quality code, manage deployments and work efficiently with a small management team.
He spent a majority of his internship working on GoodBookey, and even helped build two new game modes which has now been produced and used by large companies, such as Sportradar and theChive.
Allowing him the hands-on experience and encouraging Nick out of his comfort zone is what helped him learn and grow, something his previous internship did not offer. His previous internship primarily focused on code testing.
“The trust that was put in me helped me grow exponentially as a developer,” Nick said.
Nick stayed with Carimus for two main reasons; the first being because of the products they are building with clients that are making a difference in the world. For example, GoodBookey was created to make charitable donations easy and fun, and Joulebug promotes sustainable behavioral change.
The second reason Nick decided Carimus was the best fit for him was because of the company’s culture and structure.
“I have never felt like another cog in the machine as I did when I worked for large companies,” he said. “My thoughts and concerns have always been taken into account, even as an intern. The best idea wins here, not the highest ranking team member’s idea.”
NC State University senior in business administration, Thomas Walsh, is one of Carimus’ current interns, working as a business development intern since October of 2019.
Thomas snagged his internship after finding GoodBookey on the Small Business Directory for a class project and reached out to interview Founder and CEO Tony Pease.
“At the time I had been studying online sports gambling academically, we found it was a good fit, and he asked me to submit a resume!” Thomas said.
During his internship, Thomas’ main focus has been on working with the Project Management Business Unit on digital marketing campaigns, developing sales procedures and development of GoodBookey.
“At Carimus I get to work on fun and interesting projects that make me proud to put my name behind,” Thomas said.
Taylor Sexton began her internship during the summer of 2020 after graduating from UNC Asheville with a degree in mass communication during the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Taylor started her social media internship in June, and her primary focus is to come up with and produce consistent content for Carimus’ social media. She also helps copy edit and write blog posts for the Carimus site.
“I help out wherever I’m needed for the most part. I’m part of the marketing team, so I’m helping brainstorm ideas for strategies and campaigns. I’ve also helped out with some business development tasks. I’m even beginning to learn and help out with setting up websites,” Taylor said.
She said she’s being consistently challenged and encouraged to go out of her comfort zone, which she enjoys. Taylor said she enjoys learning new things, and here at Carimus, she has been given the opportunity to do so.
“During my time here, I’ve gained confidence in my voice and ideas because I was always encouraged to share my thoughts and ask questions if I didn’t understand something, and the team never made me feel stupid or less than for not understanding,” She said. “I was encouraged to take the lead and follow-through with my ideas and this made me feel more confident to push myself out of my comfort zone.”
While being at Carimus, Taylor said she has learned about the inner workings of a company, and also how to effectively communicate with different parts of the company. The skills she’s gained from working here is something she said she will be able to carry with her throughout the rest of her professional career.
“I really enjoy this team and how they are constantly encouraging me to challenge myself. To work on cool projects with cool people is really all I could ask for, and that’s what I get here,” she said.
When you become an intern at Carimus, you really do become part of the team and you become part of projects that are genuine and impactful. You are heard and respected and your ideas matter. You will learn and grow and you will gain experience that you will carry with you throughout your professional career.
If you’re interested in joining the Carimus team, go to https://carimus.com/careers/ today.
