Beyond the Internship: A Seidenberg Student-Athlete’s Career Leap

Remember Justin O'Neill? Justin is a student-athlete majoring in Computer Science at Pace University’s Seidenberg School. When we last spoke, Justin was finishing up his junior year and preparing for a summer internship at Staples. I recently caught up with Justin to hear about his internship experience which, in short, was phenomenal. Keep reading to learn more about Justin’s journey at Staples which (spoiler alert) is still unfolding…

Justin’s internship began on a positive note. He, alongside 40–50 other student interns, attended orientation at which they learned about Staples and about what to expect as an intern. Leaders from across the company shared information about its structure as well as key components of its culture. “Hearing from leadership about Staples’ goals and values really set the tone for the summer,” notes Justin. “And understanding more about the operational infrastructure was great context for me to have getting started.”

Justin was assigned to the Global Notification Platform Team which oversees communication related to all eCommerce transactions made on the company’s domain. As the only intern working with this small team, Justin was asked to contribute to a wide variety of projects with far-reaching and immediate impact. At times, he was surprised by the amount of opportunity he was given. “I had the perception that, as an intern, I would be assigned to less challenging tasks,” notes Justin. “Instead, I was given the opportunity to work on interesting and impactful projects.” Through working on such projects, Justin gained an awareness of the full lifecycle of his team’s process, including product initiation, development, testing, demoing, and going live.

Justin was also given his own project in which he was asked to engineer a solution to streamline a time-consuming process managed by the Staples Support Team. He met with the Support Team to learn about their needs and goals. From there, he built a system to address their pain points and create efficiency in the process. “It was really empowering to manage the project and make key decisions,” shares Justin. “I learned so much about collaboration, communication and creative thinking in this process.” Justin leveraged many of the skills he’s learned at Seidenberg to accomplish the project.

During his last week at Staples, Justin was given the chance to share his internship experience with Staples staff, members of senior leadership and other interns. He discussed the team he worked on, the skills he learned and was able to share a bit about himself. That this opportunity to reflect was part of his, as well as every student’s internship journey, was further evidence of a theme that was made clear to Justin all along – Staples’ deep investment in the intern experience. “I noticed this on day one with how comprehensive orientation was,” shares Justin. “And throughout the summer, there were many events organized to prepare students for the future.” Some of these activities included career readiness and resume building workshops as well as sessions focused on interview tactics and financial literacy. “All of these offerings, in addition to the incredible opportunities I was afforded through my team, made the internship an extraordinary experience!”

And Justin’s story at Staples continues.

At the end of the summer, he was asked to meet with a senior manager to interview for the company’s Rotational Program, wherein new hires are part of a 2-year program consisting of four 6-month rotations on different teams after which the individual can choose their path. Soon after the interview, Justin learned that he was selected for the Program, which will begin after he graduates. “I’m relieved to have a job lined up for when I graduate, as I know how challenging it can be to find work,” shares Justin, who is also incredibly happy to be returning to Staples. “I am thrilled to say the least!”

We, too, are thrilled and are excited to see what the future holds for Justin, in his senior year and beyond.