Rachel Cantlay '17 tapped into the Elon Job Network to land a tasty internship with Kraft Heinz.
Rachel Cantlay ’17 wanted to build upon the skills and experience she gained during a previous internship with Coca-Cola but wasn’t having luck tracking down the best opportunities.
Cantlay is the second person to be featured this year in a series of profiles on the recent experience of students and alumni who work alongside professionals in the Student Professional Development Center to explore career interests, find jobs and internship opportunities, prepare for interviews, improve graduate school application materials and more.
Tell me about your experience in landing a career with Kraft Heinz.
It all started with the Elon Job Network. It was the middle of the spring semester of my junior year, and I was plagued by knowing I did not yet have an internship for the summer. It seemed like every 10 minutes I was congratulating one of my friends on their internship placement or seeing someone go in for an interview, while I endlessly applied for jobs online with little hope of a response.
Knowing that I wanted to stick with a consumer packaged goods company (CPG) after any previous internship with Coca-Cola, I had been filling out dozens of applications online to every type of CPG company imaginable. I figured I had just started too late, and no one was hiring interns at the end of February. That’s when I logged on to the Elon Job Network. I clicked the Jobs and Internships button and quickly filtered down to those for marketing majors.
Peering through the list of employers, one caught my eye — Kraft Heinz. I knew Kraft, the company responsible for the delicious cheesy goodness I loved so much in my youth that I always had a couple of boxes on hand, and I also know Heinz, the maker of the iconic ketchup that my dad could never get enough of on his meatloaf. The program description read “Business Development Trainee Program – Sales Management” and below it — “Are you ready for a seat at our table?” It went on to describe Kraft Heinz as laser-focused on hiring top talent who wanted to be owners — owners of their career, owners of their personal results and owners of The Kraft Heinz Company. They wanted to deliver results and continuously raise the bar for themselves and their teams. That, plus mac and cheese? It sounded incredible.
Within a month of hitting that “submit resume” button for Kraft Heinz internship program, I found myself on the 47th floor at Kraft Heinz’s headquarters in Chicago. During this final round interview I was asked to give a three-minute presentation about why Kraft Heinz should hire me, and before I knew it, I was picking up my phone to the news that I had been invited to join the Sales Management Internship Program.
After I had completed the internship program this summer, I was fortunate enough to be offered a full-time position in the Sales Management Trainee Program once I graduate in the spring. I will be located in Cincinnati, Ohio, working with the Kroger Team.
How did your interest in pursuing a sales career with a consumer packaged goods company develop?
The summer after my sophomore year I was fortunate enough to be a Sales Leadership intern for Coca-Cola in Atlanta, Georgia. This experience gave me a glimpse not only into how the sales process works, but also a better understanding of the role a brand plays in consumer decisions. I fell in love with what iconic brands such as Coca-Cola stand for, and the emotions they can elicit in consumers. I knew I wanted to continue to work for CPG companies with a reputation for putting smiles on the face of their customers — and I was lucky enough to find the perfect one with Kraft Heinz.
What did you learn from your internship experience?
During my internship, I helped support the relationship with Kraft Heinz’s fourth-largest domestic customer, the grocery store company Publix. I spent the majority of my time working on a post-event analysis project, which was analyzing which promotions were the most successful and why.
I loved that I wasn’t only crunching numbers at a desk all summer. I was given a project that impacted the whole business and would be useful even after I was gone. I couldn’t believe how much trust my team put in me, and I was encouraged to interact cross-functionally with business leaders to solve problems creatively.
I also gained experience pulling and analyzing Nielsen data to create customer business reports. Not only was I able to get an in-depth look at the different business units and retail channels for our products, but I was also able to learn about the category dynamics, strategies and priorities for each of our brands. My experience with Kraft Heinz inspired me to take total ownership of every project I am a part of — whether it’s mac & cheese related or not.
Who did you work with in the Student Professional Development Center to prepare, and what help did you receive?
I have been going to the SPDC and the Porter Family Professional Development Center since my freshmen year. I’ve utilized virtually every service they offer — from resume reviews to even getting personalized business cards. Coming to Elon and being undecided on my major, it was a daunting process to find an internship and figuring out what the best way to apply. I had no idea what skills I had, let alone how to market them to employers.
The staff at the SPDC has always been there for me whether I simply needed a second set of eyes on an email, or I had an interview coming up and wanted some help preparing. Once I declared as a business major, the porter center staff, in particular, has been incredibly helpful.
What recommendations would you share with other students about the Student Professional Development Center?
GO! No matter what stage you are in the job or internship process, they can help you out! You are never too early, or too late to get started, and the team at the SPDC only wants to see you succeed. We are lucky enough to have the SPDC as a resource to give us every possible advantage when applying for a position, so why not use it? I always found the mock interviews to be the most helpful, yet underutilized resource for students. Even if you have interviewed before, there is nothing that prepares you like actually sitting down and answering questions, so that you can go into your interview confident and ready.
Which faculty members did you work with to prepare and what help did you receive?
The staff at the Porter Center is incredible. Throughout my four years here, I’ve worked closely with Jane Mehringer, Jan Pagoria, and Brooke Buffington – all who’ve helped me navigate many job and internship applications, interviews, correspondence with recruiters, and have been there for me throughout every step. When I was interning at Coca-Cola, Jan even came down to Atlanta for a site visit, and when I was in Florida working for Kraft Heinz, Brooke was always just a phone call away. I am confident that I wouldn’t have had the incredible internship experiences that led to me accepting my full-time position at Kraft Heinz without the guidance and support of everyone at the SPDC.