Meet our Summer Interns in Chicago

Centro kicked off the summer with 13 new interns in Chicago, New York, and Dallas. For 10 exciting weeks, our Centerns – as we lovingly call them – were spread across multiple teams and given the opportunity to get hands-on learning experience. They took on digital ad campaigns, individual projects, and community service work, while soaking up everything they could about the industry in the meantime.

Over the next couple of weeks, we'll be featuring their experiences on the blog. Today, we'll give you a look into the internship program through the eyes of our Chicago Centerns.

Sarah Newell, Media Associate Intern
I went to the University of Illinois in Champaign-Urbana and majored in advertising and minored in informatics. I was attracted to Centro because ad tech is the perfect combination of my studies!

I am currently an intern for the Publisher Solutions team. I work with several different markets, mainly assisting the publisher specialists whenever they need help. This could mean setting up campaigns in Basis Platform, pacing campaigns using Basis DSP, or talking to publishers about different ways to optimize campaigns.

My favorite part of this program is that every week someone takes time to give the interns a presentation about a different department or a different role in the company. We're at the beginning of our careers and learning at a big company, so it's a great way to discover what opportunities are out there and how we can grow at Centro.

Through this internship, I've learned that if you ask, people will go out of their way to help you. For example, I told my boss that I really enjoyed learning about how different teams work together, and now she's setting up a workshop with our team and the sales reps, so they can give us an intro on how they sell.

That above and beyond is such a great example of what initially attracted me to Centro's internship program: the people and the opportunities.

Maggie Nemoy, Insights Intern
I went to Vanderbilt in Nashville, where I majored in economics and minored in math and corporate strategy (yes, I am a total math nerd). At Vanderbilt, I was so happy surrounded by the group of intelligent and caring students, and I wanted a similar environment at work – which I found at Centro.

My daily work consists of creating insights and strategy briefs for different campaigns – that means I pull data on what our competitors are spending on different ad platforms, and use data platforms to research consumers and their media habits. Also, when a campaign manager wants to include a feedback survey with their advertisement, I'm in charge of coordinating with our brand study partner and setting the studies up.

Outside of the work, the best part has been having so much fun getting to know the other interns and making good friends. I also feel like I learned something new every day. I've learned that it's really special to work at a place that embraces making (reasonable) mistakes and learning from them. Which is why my advice to future Centerns is to work hard and have fun, but don't be afraid to make a mistake!

Caroline Nugent, Analytical Operations Intern
As a recent graduate of Michigan State University, I was thrilled to move to Chicago and join the team. Centro's commitment to providing its employees with opportunities to learn, grow, and innovate in the digital advertising landscape initially attracted me.

I'm more than halfway done with the experience, and I can say I've gained valuable exposure to the solutions and platforms that Centro uses for campaign performance analysis. The internship program has been very well organized, and the weekly meetings have given us all the opportunity to better understand the different teams and their roles within the company.

Plus, everyone is very welcoming, passionate about what they do, and more than willing to answer questions. It was a big transition to move to a new city from my hometown, but everyone at Centro has been so welcoming and given me tons of recommendations for places to explore and restaurants to try!

Matthew Langshur, Software Engineering Intern
I'm still in school at McGill University in Montreal studying mechanical engineering. This past year, to get more involved in engineering, I joined a student club where we built a functioning race car and competed against other universities.

This summer, I was tasked with investigating and beginning to implement the use of load testing tools for Basis Platform. This meant learning about the platform and learning Ruby so I could successfully research and test different load testing solutions. While the work I was assigned wouldn't prove difficult to an experienced developer, it would take a considerable amount of time to fully research, and the fact that I helped contribute makes this internship memorable and impactful.

Centro has taught me more than I could have imagined. I'm now familiar with several programming languages and, as a result, have a much better understanding of web development – something they won't teach you in school.

My advice to a prospective Centern is to work hard (obviously), but don't shy away from a task even if it seems too difficult. With enough resolve and work, anything is achievable.

Torie Patterson, Media Associate Intern
I went to Denison University and majored in communications. I love to play tennis and travel which is why I studied abroad in Greece and London.

Here's a snapshot of what my internship entails: Beyond helping out the team with anything they need, I also assist with managing live campaigns, help to monitor performance of campaigns, help to process and approve publisher IOs, and facilitate order revisions and approvals of revised IOs

One of my favorite parts of the program has been our involvement in Giving Tree project, where we all went to the Lincoln Park Community Shelter to make lunch for the guests, spend time with them, and hear about their lives. It was really great to embody Centro's manifesto by giving back, and it was a special experience to see the impact we made!

What would I tell a prospective Centern? That this internship is an amazing opportunity, they will learn so much beyond their specific role, and get direct, hands-on experience in digital media.

Paola Gutierrez, Marketing Intern
I went to Loyola University Chicago and majored in marketing and international business. I am currently pursuing my MBA at Loyola's Quinlan School of Business. In my free time, I love to try new foods, play board games, read, and travel!

Every day I support the team in a variety of ways. Some days I help with event set-up and logistics (researching and contacting food truck vendors, restaurants and rooftop bars, or boat companies). Other days I help contribute content to our social media channels and the blog (I wrote these lovely intern blog posts). Sometimes I'm doing analysis to figure out how our social media accounts stack up against the competition.

My favorite part of my internship has been planning and being a part of our Giving Tree Project, because it gave me the opportunity to meet people all around the company who contributed food donations for the meal we cooked at Lincoln Park Community Shelter. Our project showed me that everyone at Centro really does live by the manifesto, particularly their dedication to others.

I would tell a prospective Centern to meet as many people as they can, and to try to learn something new every day.

If you have more questions about our internship program or would like to apply to be a part of the program, please reach out to talent.development@centro.net.