Hi everyone! My name is Jarrett Johnson, and I am a rising senior in Pitt Business. I’m majoring in finance and business information systems with a certificate in leadership and ethics. This is my first blog post highlighting my summer internship at Ernst & Young (EY). I will be working in EY’s technology risk consulting program at PPG Place in downtown Pittsburgh. 

During my time at Pitt Business, I have not always known what I want to do after graduation, but through my time in my certificate of leadership and ethics, I have decided I want to pursue consulting as a career. My certificate program is based around the consulting industry with deliverables, real-world clients, and end of semester presentations that we conduct in teams of four. My certificate program is also headed by former honors college dean, Dr. Audrey Murrell and my amazing professor, Dr. Ray Jones. 

With the help of this program, I feel excited and prepared for my internship. My internship at EY began June 6th with a week of training conducted virtually with interns around the country. As I write this first post, I have finished my second to last day of training, and I’ll wrap it up tomorrow. Throughout the week I have received requests for meetings for the week of June 13th, meetings with my new peer buddy, counselor, and initial client meetings. With every request that comes in, I think I should feel stressed, but instead my excitement grows about the future internship. 

However, in my past internship last summer, I worked for a small start-up non-profit called The International Society of Wheelchair Professionals (ISWP). ISWP is currently housed in Pitt’s School of Rehabilitation, but seeks to become its own entity outside the university. ISWP’s mission is to codify and improve wheelchair healthcare professional’s globally. There is a huge gap between The West and the rest of the world. This gap is where ISWP provides information and grants towards. During this internship I was given many freedoms on projects and had a direct role in research and guidance given to the board of directors. 

The differences between a start-up, non-profit and a large, for-profit company are immense, and I can already tell that it will be a completely different experience. While I do not know exactly what I will be working on for my assigned clients, I will be sure to update everyone in my next blog. 

What I hope to gain from this internship is valuable experience to jumpstart my consulting career after I graduate in the Spring. I hope that I am able to receive a return offer to EY, but if I am not able to, I will still be pursuing a consulting job within Pittsburgh.

I’m very excited about this internship and also to continue this blog throughout my journey at Ernst & Young! Furthermore, I want to thank my certificate program leaders, Dr. Audrey Murrell and Dr. Ray Jones, for their experience and teachings on consulting for the past two years.