Externship at JCPenney – Adam Hinshaw ‘09
The January externship I had at JCPenney Headquarters in Dallas, TX was an extra-ordinary opportunity to see a large and highly successful organization up close. My sponsor, a Bucknell alum and the Deputy Vice President-Director of Customer File Marketing, was thoughtful enough to invite me to lunch the week before my externship so that we could meet and talk about JCP as well as Bucknell today. At lunch he provided me with a full-page agenda of my schedule over the two-day externship.
On my first day, I attended a “new hire orientation” which introduced me to JCP’s principles, corporate culture, and overall business. My sponsor gave me an overview of Direct Marketing (i.e., direct mailings, catalogues, and now online) and arranged numerous meetings for me throughout that afternoon and the next day with senior managers in his department as well as in Advertising and Human Resources. Everyone I met was highly knowledgeable and provided insightful observations about the corporate world, graduate school, and the value of various college majors.
My sponsor went out of his way to provide a stimulating look at JCP from the inside and to make sure that I had an informative and interesting experience. He is really a great guy! I would definitely encourage sophomores to take part in this program next year.