Abbey Myerson ’14

Major(s): INBM
Internship Site: PPL EnergyPlus - Allentown, PA

The Internship:   
I live right outside of Allentown and PPL has always been my household’s energy provider. They are also known in the area as being one of the best employers and highest compensators in the area. Their internship program is well-known locally and one of my neighbors had done it two years in a row. I consulted her about opportunities and she helped me through the process. PPL also offers housing for non-local students and is a truly worthwhile intern experience.

I assisted the Business Planning group for the unregulated subsidiary of PPL, called EnergyPlus, in many projects involving Excel. I helped to develop a new method of aggregating cost data that was, in the end, added into the profit/loss report. My job was pretty much all Excel, which I was wary about in the beginning because I thought I would get bored quickly. However, I learned tons of new things such as Excel shortcuts and how to create a Pivot Table.

The Challenges:   
I initially found the prospect of sitting at a desk for 40 hours a week among professionals a challenging idea. I wasn’t sure if I would be treated like a lowly intern or if I would actually have real work to do. It was a scary prospect leading up to the first day. However, I didn’t have to overcome the challenge on my own. This summer, there were 135 interns at PPL. The internship program was excellently coordinated and involved tons of professional networking events and social events. They helped make it a worthwhile experience.

The Preparation:   
Accounting and Managerial Economics helped me more than any other class since I learned how to use Excel through both of these classes. They also helped my analytical skills since I had to do a lot of data analysis.

The Future:  
This internship has benefitted me by preparing me further for my future. In the next 5 years or so, about 40-50% of the current employees at PPL will be retiring. Their internship program is developed to create a pool of internally trained applicants to replace these jobs. With the job market in a rut, this helps me tremendously with securing an opportunity after school. Also, I am now familiar with the energy business and could pursue jobs at other energy companies.

Tips from Abbey: 
Use the resources provided by Dickinson and also your own personal connections if possible. Once at your first internship site, be sure to network. Dickinson’s Internship Notation Program requires 1 informational interview, but I urge you to go beyond that. My internship site required 3, but I did 4 and I know people who interviewed as many as 10 people. It’s a great way to establish a personal connection with a professional and show that you’re interested. You never know where you might be able to utilize your connections down the road.


*To find out more about how to get an internship, make an appointment with a career counselor. Just call the Career Center at 717-245-1740 or stop by Biddle House.