Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence at the Katz Graduate School of Business, 12/09
by Marlee Gallagher

Senior Erika Moul recently interned at the Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence at the Katz Graduate School of Business here at Pitt. However, Erika is not new to the world of internships; in fact, while at Pitt, Erika has had an impressive series of internships at the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society, the Make-A-Wish Foundation, and Pitt’s Graduate School of Public Health. Erika selected these internships to gain experience in the nonprofit sector because she would like to get a full-time job at the Make-A-Wish Foundation after graduation.

However, Erika chose her most recent internship to “gain marketing/PR experience outside of the nonprofit setting,” which has given her experience in more fields than just one. This mix of internship experience is important for students to really understand where they want to be and what sort of professional writing they want to do in their careers. Erika also says that, in addition to her internship experience, “The PPW program also helped me to identify exactly the type of writing I would like to do and career path I would like to take in the future.” She specified that, “Persuasive Writing for Advertising and Fundraising was most beneficial” for the work she wants to do in the nonprofit sector.

During Erika’s internship at the Institute of Entrepreneurial Excellence, she “wrote many memos and letters to the members and clients of the Institute; wrote and designed email blasts; researched, wrote, and designed company profiles for local business members,” and explained that she also did some website writing by compiling online FAQs. Erika said her other tasks included “[writing] letters of nomination for staff and clients for various business-related awards and [designing] pamphlets and flyers for new marketing materials.” She said that she definitely spent more than 50 percent of her time writing. She enjoyed most of her “design and copy writing responsibilities” and hopes to do more of that in the future.

Erika said she would recommend her internship to other students. She explained, “The staff was very friendly and accommodating, and they asked for my input on marketing-related projects, especially when it came to articulating messages to members via emails, letters, pamphlets, and flyers.” She added that, “The University setting was convenient and fit into my schedule nicely.” However, Erika explained that the “business-related subject matter” was not as interesting to her. After all, she prefers working with people, specifically children.

Since Erika was a child herself, she always wanted to work with people. She further explained, “My flexibility and openness to new places and possibilities reflects this, and since I have a strong passion for nonprofit work, I know that I will most definitely be working with and helping people.” Erika’s previous internships gave her plenty of experience helping people, but in her own personal life, Erika spent her summers as a full-time nanny and is the youngest of five siblings. These personal experiences must have certainly helped to shape Erika’s sincere passion to work with and for people.

In addition to working for a nonprofit after graduation, Erika said, “I also hope to live and work abroad one day, hopefully in England or Ireland.” For now, however, Erika explained that she will look for entry-level positions in Pittsburgh, but wants to continue travelling and writing on her own time.