Harris Student Q&A: Summer Internships

After completing the rigorous Core Curriculum, Harris MPP students often say they felt better prepared to make meaningful, data-driven contributions in their summer internships. We asked a few second year MPP students to tell us about their internship experiences:

• Tylor Collier, Summer Engagement Fellow at The Chicago Public Education Fund
• Lindsay Hiser, Research Fellow at The Energy Policy Institute at the University of Chicago (EPIC)
• Allison Swimmer, Public Finance Investment Banking Summer Analyst at UBS

How did you secure your internship?

Collier: After seeing a listing for the Chicago Public Education Fund’s summer fellowships on HarrisLink, I applied on The Fund’s website. I communicated with the hiring manager via email to secure my interview.

Hiser: A second-year MPP student informed me about the opportunity, and I found the listing on HarrisLink and applied there. The faculty member emailed me a few weeks later to set up an interview.

Swimmer: I applied via HarrisLink and did extensive networking with current employees at UBS. I also used the finance industry videos shared by the Career Development Office’s (CDO) Finance Industry Consultant.

Tell us about a project you worked on.

Swimmer: Despite being in a finance role, I conducted a lot of research working with the transportation team to issue debt for several state and local departments of transportation. Many clients are currently focused on rising electric vehicle use: with lower gas consumption, there is less money from the gas tax available to fund transportation projects.

Collier: I aided the Fund's $25 million fundraising efforts by conducting research on high profile individuals and organizations for the Fund to approach. I also developed a tracker to house that information for future projects and strategized personalized pitch approaches for each organization. 

What was a highlight of your internship experience?

Swimmer: My highlight was the opportunity to work on a live deal for a large airport transaction that had an environmental, social, and governance (ESG) focus.

Hiser: I worked with a small research team to define the scope of a new research project. It was rewarding to collect the data and share insights that would shape the project’s next steps.

Collier: One highlight of my internship was presenting my tracker and research to the CEO. I received valuable feedback and guidance on the project and my next career steps. The CEO was grateful for my work and I was able to see the impact of my summer projects on the team.

In your work, how did you draw on your experience from Harris courses?

Hiser: In some ways, my fellowship felt like a practicum of my spring coursework at Harris. The Data and Programming in R course I took for the Certificate in Data Analytics was invaluable for tasks that involved cleaning and analyzing data. I also drew on the regression analysis concepts covered in Program Evaluation. 

Swimmer: Taking State and Local Public Finance as part of my Certificate in Municipal Finance proved really helpful. The midterm assessment for that class was to complete a credit outlook on a city of our choosing. Understanding the components of that process contributed to my daily work this summer.

Collier: I drew on research and critical thinking skills that I honed during the first year at Harris. I also used the communications skills I practiced in Harris courses, through policy memos and briefs, to convey succinct and accurate information.

To learn more about summer internship outcomes, check out our Career Outcomes Report.