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What It’s Like to Be a Finance Intern at 3M
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At 3M, we're all learning, discovering, exploring and innovating together. Our internship programs allow for students to join other 3Mers on their career journey. Here’s a more in-depth look at what it’s like to be a finance intern from someone who has experienced it firsthand.
Intern: Natasha Torres
Education: Earned a bachelor’s in biology from Binghamton University; Currently pursuing a master’s in law and business administration from Willamette University
Internship Title and Location: Finance Intern in Maplewood, MN
Past Experience: High school biology teacher for three years. Also worked in the legal department at Portland Public Schools
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Why were you interested in interning for 3M and the Finance program specifically?
Much of my background is grounded in soft business skills, so many places I interviewed at wanted me to go into HR. 3M was one of the few places that offered me a Finance internship. I think 3M offered me the Finance internship because I really highlighted the skills I gained in a data analysis class that allowed us to manipulate and analyze client data to create tangible deliverables through Tableau.
Through my current business program, I took an experiential learning class that allowed students to invest in the stock market. It peaked my interest because it gave me practical skills and demystified investing for me. From there, I took more financially focused classes based on analyzing financial data, creating financial models and accounting. The more classes I completed, the more empowered I felt. It’s uncommon for a lawyer to have in-depth financial competency, so it made me feel like I could take charge of my career.
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How did you find out about finance internships at 3M?
Through my fellowship with Reaching Out MBA (ROMBA), the global association for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer MBA students and alumni. ROMBA distributes a resume booklet annually to employers that participate in the network, so I added mine and 3M contacted me for an interview. It was really exciting to be able to connect with such a large company that valued interviewing diverse students.
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What types of projects are you working on in your internship?
I work with the tax department helping to research and analyze various tax law inquires. I am currently working on creating a compliance program for the sales team to help increase proper benefit reporting.
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What is your favorite part of your internship?
I love that 3M has Employee Resource Networks. They are a really nice place to meet other people outside of your department. I am a part of the Pride Network and Latino Resource Network and love going to their events where I connect with other 3Mers.
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What do you think your main takeaway will be from this internship?
You can have just a normal internship here where you keep your head down and do your work. Or you can have a big experience and get to know a lot of people and the city you are living in. You can make your experience as small or large as you want depending on your level of comfort. I like to involve myself in the places where I live and have felt included in every activity I’ve participated in.
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What advice do you have for those interested in this program?
Take data classes! Just try it out. Learn how to use visualization software, like R, Tableau or Power BI. Get familiar with the structure of it, how to perform queries, etc. If anything, get really good at Excel.
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Interested in an internship with 3M? Join 3M’s Talent Community and learn how your skills might be a fit at 3M when an opportunity opens up.
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