Grady Intern Diaries: Christopher Mays
This is part of a series where we ask Grady College students to describe their summer internship experience.
For others in the series, please see:
Connor Foarde, The Washington Times
Kendall Lake, New America’s Open Technology Institute
Charlotte Norsworthy, NPR
Brittany Paris, Dateline NBC
Maxime Tamsett, CNN
Name: Christopher Mays
Major: Public Relations
Minor: Public Policy and Management
Title of Internship: Citi Summer Analyst at Citi
Location: New York, NY
Grady College: Briefly describe your internship and responsibilities:
Christopher Mays: In my role, I act as an agile Product Owner. My main task for the summer is building a strategy around a feature that will better enhance overall digital experiences. In order to accomplish this, I collaborate with various teams across the business to conduct competitive analysis, research and user testing.
GC: What was the best part about your summer internship?
C.M.: Having the opportunity to live in New York City. Living in the city has been one of the greatest experiences I’ve had to date. Each day is filled with new people, things to do and places to see.
GC: What was the biggest surprise in your internship (ie: is there anything you didn’t expect?)
C.M.: The biggest surprise in my internship has been how open everyone is to sit down with you to talk about your summer project, their career path and offer advice on succeeding with the company.
GC: What is the most valuable lesson or skill you learned during your internship?
C.M.: The most valuable skill that I have learned throughout my internship is adaptability. Each new day is full of new challenges and goals to work towards. Being adaptable allows you to succeed in new and unfamiliar situations.
GC: What advice would you give to a student looking for an internship?
C.M.: Be persistent. Be bold. Don’t be afraid to take risk. Outside of these things I would encourage students to get involved early, go to the career center, and attend networking events when possible.
GC: When you look back on your internship 10 years from now, what part of your summer internship do you expect to be most thankful for?
C.M.: I believe it will be the people that I have met here at Citi. Everyone that I have interacted with has been eager to assist me in any possible way. The people at this company love what they do and that is reflected in their interactions and day to day work.
Editor: Ivy Smith, ivy.smith@uga.edu