CGB Programs Help Students Gain Skills on Summer Break

How did you spend your summer vacation? Students working with Maryland Smith’s Center for Global Business have an impressive answer for that question.

CGB offered two programs this summer to allow students to develop their professional skills and build work experience, ultimately helping them to build their resumes and gain a competitive advantage in their future careers. Here’s how they spent their time.

The Global Marketing Virtual Internship Program

Just 29 Maryland Smith undergraduate students were selected from about 70 applicants to participate in the 10-week program focused on website globalization and digital marketing. The students were placed with 15 global companies based in Maryland and Washington, D.C., contributing to the firms’ marketing initiatives while developing their own global marketing skills.

Students gained pre-internship training as well as mentorship and professional development from the program, and gained website globalization training with the MD/DC District Export Council, a business-to-business vs. business-to-consumer marketing tutorial, and training on global mindset and cultural dimensions. The program also included professional development sessions on effective listening and communication and leveraging the internship in students’ career search. And the students were advised throughout the process by Maryland Smith’s Mary Beth Furst, associate clinical professor of marketing at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.

Participant Fiona Yang ’22 says she was drawn to the program because of the skills and experience it would provide. “In working closely with a small company, I was able to realize the importance of a smart, effective marketing strategy, especially for a small competitor in a global marketplace,” says Yang, a marketing and government and politics major. “I gained experience in market research, website optimization and SEO, which are all concrete skills that I will be taking to my next internship or job offer.”

Several students walked away from their virtual internship with full-time job offers from the companies where they interned, according to CGB.

The Maryland Global Consulting Program

Two teams, consisting of five MBA students each, consulted for one of two Maryland-based companies as part of the Maryland Global Consulting Program this summer. The program offers an opportunity for MBA students to apply what they’ve learned in the classroom to a real-world consulting project, helping firms address challenges faced in entering the international market.

The teams worked on market prioritization and market entry plans for projects with either CoreHive Computing, a high-speed cloud computing company based in Clarksburg, Md., or CTRL Systems, an acoustic ultrasound solutions company based in Westminster, Md.

Tina Elhindi, MBA candidate ’22, says the program allowed her to build experience outside of her comfort zone. “I've spent the past 10 weeks learning about an industry I had no prior experience in, gaining confidence in a function I thought I had no reason to be in, and above all, making connections that would help me in the pursuit of my full-time career,” she says. “I developed so much confidence knowing that I could manage a team in what was an ambiguous environment. This program proved I had it within me to guide the team and it is something I will take with me as I pursue full-time opportunities.”

The clients were impressed, says Rebecca Bellinger, CGB’s executive director. “Each one of them said they intend to follow through with all of the team recommendations. That’s the real value of these programs: they help students skill up and help small businesses build capacity for growth.”

Maryland-based companies interested in working with an undergraduate or MBA consulting team on the Global Marketing Virtual Internship or Maryland Global Consulting programs can visit the website or contact smithglobal@umd.edu. Students interested in enrolling in either the program should also visit the website or email smithglobal@umd.edu for more information.

These programs were sponsored in part by CIBE, a Title VI grant administered by the U.S. Department of Education.

–By Marina Augoustidis, associate director of the Center for Global Business at the University of Maryland’s Robert H. Smith School of Business.