Southeast Students Excel in ATT Summer Internships

CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo., Aug. 17, 2007 – Three Southeast Missouri State University students were among the top interns in AT&T's Directory Operations internship program this summer.

The students are Adrienne Sevier, a junior international business major from Bloomsdale, Mo.; Nikki Eggleston, a senior accounting major from St. Peters, Mo.; and Candice Haas, a senior marketing/management major from Millstadt, Ill.

The three spent the summer soliciting advertising nationwide from a customer call center in Olivette, Mo., for AT&T's internet product, Yellowpages.com. They also sold a guaranteed Internet traffic product called Search Engine Solutions. It enables customers to dictate the amount of traffic they want to their Web site.

"We were advertising consultants and called businesses all over the United States, from East coast to West coast," Eggleston said. "The businesses ranged from beauty salons and doctors to die cutters and fabricators."

The three students were among a group of seven interns representing Southeast, St. Louis University and Washington University. The interns were nominated for the positions by faculty and staff, corporate relations directors and deans of business schools. The seven were selected from an original pool of 75 nominees. They finished the summer program by generating $2 million in sales over an eight-week period.

Sevier said the students made sales calls "all day long, talking to the 'decision makers' of each company, trying to get them interested in and showing them the benefits of Yellowpages.com Internet Advertising.

"It sounds like a long day, but really time flies because of all the interesting people that you get to talk to on the phone," said Sevier, whose work with the Southeast Missouri University Foundation's Telefund served as a tremendous foundation for the AT&T internship.

Robert Frazer, senior manager of staffing and recruiting with AT&T Advertising and Publishing, said the purpose of the internship is to give students real-world experience and to put them in touch with "live customers spending real money."

Sevier says the interns "were treated like regular full-time employees, instead of pushing papers all day." Eggleston agreed, saying the experience was not a typical "getting coffee internship."

Each intern had a summer goal of making $20,000 in revenue by selling Yellowpages.com Intern Advertising to businesses across the country.

Although Sevier fell just short of that benchmark, netting $18,000 in revenue, she said she finished the summer as the top caller in number of sales and in total revenue raised.

Eggleston said her primary goal with the internship was to gain an understanding of the corporate setting.

"I learned so much about AT&T and how a Fortune 10 company is handled. I learned how the chain of command is carried down, as well as how competitive the position is. I also set a personal goal to increase my confidence in myself by being confident in what I'm doing and by increasing my communication skills," she said. "Over the summer, I learned that the key to selling is to be confident in what it is that you are providing as well as yourself. However, in order to properly convey your confidence, you have to have powerful communication skills. I learned how to convey my point clearly and concisely."

Eggleston said she finished the summer as the number two intern in number of sales and yearly revenue.

"I don't believe success is merely based on statistics and numbers," she said. "I established customer relationships that may last several years and benefit AT&T well beyond my internship."

Sevier said she gained "everything" from the internship.

"I gained real corporate experience, confidence to speak to anyone, even a complete stranger like a professional, communication skills, networking in a Fortune 10 company, time management and friends," she said.

Moreover, Sevier said she gained experience that "cannot be taught in a classroom or read in a book."

"Each person really did an outstanding job," Frazer said. "Each one exceeded our expectations."

He said the work of the three Southeast interns is to be commended.

"Southeast did a very good job and should be very proud of their efforts," he said. "They set the bar as far as our expectations of Southeast students."

Eggleston said she highly recommends the internship to other Southeast students.

"I would tell them to take chances and step outside the box that you are used to," she said. "I'm an accounting major, and I took the chance to try something new and totally loved it."

She said students should take advantage of internships early in their college careers.

"Don't wait to start looking before your senior year," she said. "I've had an internship every summer since I was a freshman, and it has helped so much with my career decisions. It really would be a shame if you didn't gain real life experience in your field until after you graduated and realize that it is definitely not your cup of tea."

Sevier added, "Don't pass up this great opportunity. You will gain unbeatable qualities, learn tons of helpful information, experience real corporate atmosphere and have tons of fun."