Working at Watermark — Through the Eyes of a College Intern

This summer, Watermark has had the privilege to have Joe Collins, a college intern, working with us. Joe Collins is a rising senior at the University of Richmond, majoring in Rhetoric & Communications with a minor in American Studies. Joe was born and raised in Rockville Centre, NY and is a diehard Yankee’s fan. His career goals include working somewhere where he can actually see the difference his work makes. The following is Joe’s account of his experience as a college intern at Watermark.

I was eager to begin my internship with Watermark at the beginning of summer. However, I never could have predicted the doors this experience would open for me.

In a number of ways, this was a different type of internship than most regular college students expect. The biggest surprise for me was the fact that I could do almost all of my work remotely, rather than commuting in and out of the office every day. At first, I thought there would be a lack of structure. However, I quickly found quite the opposite. Although starting my day-to-day work took self-motivation and was not signified by a maze of cubicles, I knew I had multiple resources at my fingertips, as they were always just an email or phone call away. While I may have been working alone, I was always in close contact with my colleagues.

It was also an adjustment for me to learn the ropes of the business, so to say. Security and risk management was a completely foreign industry to me. Most of my classmates had their eyes on one or two internships that they actively pursue all year. However, I was excited to try something new, and go down a completely different path. Thankfully, it opened my eyes to something I would likely have never found myself. Today, my knowledge of risk management and security, and all it entails, has grown tenfold.

At the end of June, I participated in recruitment training with other Watermark employees. This was certainly the most abundant learning experience I have encountered over the course of the summer. In fact, every day I learned something new and the job really kept me on my toes.

In the end, the most important part of my internship with Watermark, as opposed to a typical office internship, was that I constantly felt as though I were doing a job that actually needed to be done. Let’s be honest—most interns are relegated to grunt work. But I felt the necessity with which tasks were presented to me, and the gratitude with which they were received once completed, was both genuine and rewarding. This was by far the most noticeable and important part of the job for me. It made the work I was doing fulfilling because it meant my efforts were respected.

I’m glad I chose to do my internship with Watermark. It opened me up to new opportunities that I might have never considered. I’m proud to say that I will be continuing my work part-time with Watermark throughout my senior year of college, and will continue to do everything they ask me to do.