Every summer the average age and years of experience of Draper employees takes a dip as we welcome college students into our ranks. This annual tradition benefits our summer interns by providing real-world experience and an opportunity to earn some money over the summer. It also benefits Draper by providing an influx of additional staff for our busy season, as well as some new ideas and ways of looking at things.
This year around 30 college students are working in nearly all areas, including production, engineering, sales, and marketing. As summer winds down and they begin returning to campus, we asked a few of them to share their experiences with us.
Molly Broome
This is my second summer working for Draper as an intern in the Marketing Department. I was so excited to come back and continue learning about marketing and Draper as a whole and expanding my skills. I learned a lot about social media marketing, design, and web development. When I worked here last, I helped with some of the first stages in implementing Draper at Home. It was awesome to see the progress and success of this market and be able to continue working on it this summer.
I also had the privilege of attending InfoComm in Orlando, Florida. This was my first ever trade show, and I learned so much about the AV industry. This was an amazing opportunity to expand my knowledge of the business world and network with professionals in the field.
I absolutely loved my experience learning and working alongside the employees in the Marketing Department. Working with experienced and knowledgeable professionals is something I will always cherish. Everyone was passionate about their work and open to the ideas and input I had to offer. I cannot wait to bring these skills to my Master’s of Marketing program at the University of Kentucky this Fall.
Luke Weaver
Hi, my name is Luke Weaver and I’m an intern at Draper this summer in the Sales Department. Since being at Draper I’ve felt very welcomed by everyone in the office and feel like I have a good relationship with everyone here. Everyone who trained me did a very good job teaching me about the shade industry and helped me learn about Draper and the abundance of products that they offer. In the short time that I’ve been working at Draper, I feel like I learned so much about the shade industry and how a large business is run. This is my first job experience in an office environment, and I believe it has improved my business professionalism, team-working skills, and problem-solving skills.
This job has provided me with an amazing opportunity to expand my knowledge in the business world, explore my interests, and expand my networking with professionals. I am a business management major at Indiana University and this learning experience has helped me better understand and grasp the idea of my major. I plan to put forth the knowledge that has been given to me and apply it towards my upcoming college semesters and also in my future career.
Olivia Sullivan
I had the opportunity to have a marketing internship at Draper inc. over the summer with a team of creative and innovative individuals who taught me valuable lessons that I will carry with me throughout my career in marketing. I learned that it is essential to communicate effectively with other teams to create a cohesive strategy that benefits the company. By collaborating and communicating with other teams at Draper Inc. I was able to expand my professional network.
The experience I gained during my internship helped me shape my future career path. I was able to get hands-on experience and learn more about marketing strategies, tactics, and techniques that are used in real-world situations. I was able to see how marketing campaigns are developed, executed, and evaluated. This helped me gain a better understanding of the industry and the skills needed to succeed.
Overall, my experience at Draper Inc. was incredibly valuable. I learned the importance of collaboration, content creation, networking opportunities, and confidence. These lessons will stay with me throughout my career, and I am grateful for the opportunity to have worked with such an amazing team. After this internship I can say that marketing is the career path I want to follow and pursue more knowledge as I go into my senior year at Ball State University.
Wyatt Graddy
I worked as an engineering intern this summer in product development. During this summer I have been able to work on many different projects. I have been able to complete some drawings and do some excel work relevant to updates in BuyDesign, which is a product configuration software tool. The most important work that I got to assist with was the collaborative work with the rest of the product development team. I was able to do some modeling and drawing updates as work came in from the engineers.
While the branch of engineering I am studying is in a completely different field as the work I have been able to do here, I feel I have gotten some very meaningful experience. I am able to bring back with me a collaborative experience that is different than what can be experienced while in school. This will help me succeed in the future as I can adapt more easily into an office setting than other students without this experience. I am grateful to Draper for providing the CAD experience that my academic career had been lacking. This will help set me apart from my classmates, not only to future employers but also in our design lab. The most valuable thing I can take away from my experience here at Draper is the understanding of how office dynamics work. I was nervous when I first began here this summer because I didn’t know what to expect. But, after the summer I had I don’t believe that will be an issue moving forward with my career.
We’re incredibly grateful to all of our summer employees for their fine work over the past couple of months and wish them well. And, to some of them, we’ll see you next summer!
