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Advice for Students from Past CEI Students

I would tell them that this is an excellent way to put your business knowledge into practice with a humanitarian twist.

Have some expectations of your position, but don't have solid ones, as your position most likely will encompass more than what you think. Also, have your specific responsibilities laid out, don't leave them vague. And have fun and enjoy yourself and don't be scared to ask questions. Allow some time to integrate yourself in the atmosphere and then enjoy yourself when you do.

Make sure you are clear about what is expected from you. Clarify your skills and what you think you can (and cannot) do for the organization from the beginning. Be ready to deal with ambiguity, and go with the flow! Set yourself realistic objectives. You have been given a unique opportunity to learn and grow; enjoy it!

Don’t underestimate the amount you can learn working at an organization in the non-profit and voluntary sector. I believe that I learned more this summer than I would have at a “traditional MBA internship” with a top 50 company. I also say that I learned and got more from the experience than I anticipated.

I would advise future interns to look for additional opportunities within the organization to offer assistance whenever possible. The skills of an MBA can be valuable in a variety of ways outside of the internship proposal. In my time on the job I had the opportunity to assist with several requests for funding.

Try this as something you’ve never done before. It may change your life!

I’d say take advantage of the opportunity you have, get as much experience as you can! Also, keep educating yourself on issues, which will keep you motivated on the job all the time.

Go in with very little expectations. The CEI experience is largely about personal growth (I don’t think that was something I expected going in). It is important to not be worried about what you will take from the experience, since it happens naturally. I think I expected to have very quantitative results to share with others at the end of the internship, but this doesn’t happen. For me, it was much more about qualitative results.

We asked our past host organizations:
"What advice would you give future CEI interns?"

Consider this work as you often will have more access to senior management level and have excellent chance to really apply knowledge in very complex environments.

Non-profit work is typically tough work with low budgets, so won’t necessarily follow theoretical learning. However, if you can succeed on a shoestring, just think how great your career results will be once you have bigger projects and budgets to achieve outcomes.

Go into the program with an open mind that you will learn and provide knowledge. That this is a project/organization/program that people take seriously and are dedicated to – don’t take it any less seriously than that.

Make sure you are clear on your job, what is expected, who you deliver to and what you can reasonably achieve in the time you have.

Be ready for a changing landscape. What you started out doing may not be what you end with. Learn from the experience and ask questions!