Each summer, students from the University of Delaware’s Alfred Lerner College of Business and Economics gain valuable professional-level exposure through internships. This year, young scholars were able to traverse the complications of the COVID-19 pandemic by pursuing an array of internships, externships and other professional development opportunities. Each profile of this series will detail a Lerner student’s experiences working on business-oriented projects.
Rafi Turitz-Sweifach, a Class of 2022 economics major with minors in business administration, Jewish Studies and history, spent his summer interning with Weissman Realty.
Lerner: What are you doing this summer to develop readiness for your future career?
Turitz-Sweifach: I worked for a family-owned commercial realty company for the summer doing a variety of work for the owners. My work involved organizing different aspects of the business, creating and improving spreadsheets, consulting with the owners about investment opportunities and learning about the business and industry as a whole. When I was able to, I participated in virtual Lerner events as a student panelist in order to answer questions for prospective and incoming students. Since the beginning of August, I have also been working on graduate school applications.
Lerner: Did the coronavirus impact your internship search and working experience? If so, how?
Turitz-Sweifach: The coronavirus had a significant impact on my summer plans. While I was able to go into the office full-time this summer, I was actually supposed to have a full-time internship last summer that was canceled due to the response to the pandemic. There was also a positive impact, however, because I was able to participate in the virtual Lerner panels remotely, which I would not have been able to do if they were in person.
Lerner: What did you learn from this experience that you think you would not have learned elsewhere?
Turitz-Sweifach: During my internship, I learned a lot about the logistical side of running a business which I do not believe I would have learned anywhere else. I also gained experience with the commercial real estate industry which was something new to me! I believe that I gained a lot of unique hands-on learning and practical experience during my internship.
Lerner: What is an example of a time where you were able to apply what you’ve learned at Lerner to your role?
Turitz-Sweifach: I believe that there were a few times that I was able to apply my learning to my internship. Most significantly, the skills I learned in MISY160 and MISY261 working with Excel helped me to develop and better utilize spreadsheets for the company. I also feel that I was able to apply what I learned in my accounting and finance courses to the bookkeeping aspect of my internship. Overall, I feel that the biggest impact that my education at Lerner had on my internship was the fact that I had broad exposure to many different aspects of business which allowed me to have a good foundation in understanding what was going on from the beginning.
Lerner: What have you been doing this summer outside of professional development, just for you?
Turitz-Sweifach: I have been spending most weekends relaxing with my family. We have a shared summer house that has given me a great reason to step away from my computer every once in a while to enjoy the summer. I have also made an effort to see and talk to friends while getting ready to go back to campus!