Level Up: From a summer internship to leading the internship program

When Glory read through an edition of Penn State’s Labor and Human Resources newsletter, something caught her eye. She had been looking for summer internship opportunities and stumbled across a position with Textron Systems at their location in Hunt Valley, Maryland, just outside of Baltimore. The position would entail data analytics work within the Talent Acquisition team and Glory was excited to find something away from home, but still close enough where she could visit friends and family whenever she wanted.

After getting accepted into the internship program, Glory was faced with an exciting challenge — moving to a new area for the summer.

“It was scary at first,” Glory said. “Being a first-generation college student and not having any family or friends who have experienced relocating for an internship was intimidating.”

However, with the help of her Textron Systems recruiter, Glory was able get advice on how the relocation process worked and received recommendations for places to consider living. From there, she was able to settle into the Baltimore area and quickly learned that she was just a few hours away from several major cities, the beach, and most importantly, her family.

As Glory began her internship, she soon realized that data analytics was not for her.

“By the end of my first week, I spoke with my director and indicated that I was interested in trying other work within Talent Acquisition that would better match with my skills and personality,” Glory said. “This was the first time in my life where I felt as if I was not good at something and that was a very big challenge for me, but I spoke up and because of that, I was able to find my passion for recruiting.”

Glory knew that she was passionate about helping people and wanted to continue to experience that.

Following her internship, she was offered a full-time role on the University Relations team as an Associate University Relations Specialist.

“As young professionals begin their careers and look for opportunities, I want to be the person that is there for them as a resource to make them comfortable and answer any questions they may have,” Glory said.

More than two years later, Glory now finds herself in a different seat during intern orientation: at the front of the room. As someone who interned not too long ago, Glory is in the perfect position to lead the internship program.

“I understand the feelings of being nervous for your first day or being nervous to conduct your final report outs. Having these feelings fresh in my mind helps to plan accordingly,” said Glory, who recently welcomed more than 160 interns across 10 different Textron Systems locations.

“If I could give advice to any current or future interns, it would be to always ask questions, network and put yourself out there,” Glory said.

Through the internship program, university recruiting events and more, Glory has helped many students find their passions and begin their careers – and this is just the start of hers.

Interested in a career with Textron Systems? Click here to view all open roles.