American Water is the largest privately-owned water and wastewater utility company in the United States. My experience while at American Water was interesting; I had never worked for company that large (they employ over 7,000 people) and getting to interact with people from different offices all around the country was a unique experience and one of the highlights of the job.
The internship also required me to travel to the corporate headquarters every two week and American Water did a OK job at set-up the necessary accommodations (taxi service, hotel room, and airline tickets) to make the trip less daunting when traveling between the two location. The day-to-day tasks were standard marketing services for the company; writing press releases, conducing market research on customer satisfaction, and handled paperwork for industry tradeshows. However, one of the more exciting projects I was able to work on was assisting the company with related events and activities leading up to their initial public offering. I was responsible for setting the ground work for the agreement to ring the bell at the New York Stock, implemented different creative marketing events at key locations within the US., and organized the office party to celebrate this major milestone.
While I worked there, every Tuesday the marketing department employees would block two hours in their schedules to meet and discuss different projects we were working on. The meeting first started as a formality to make sure everyone was on the same page, however they became more regular items of the weekly agenda. A lot of what was discussed really didn’t involve me, but it was nice to be included in all the different projects that were going on in the marketing department.
Working for American Water overall had some issues. I noticed that managers from other branches of the company like to run their department’s their own way without any outside feedback, even if it’s from another senior manager who is at the same level on the organizational chart. To them it’s seen as trampling over their authority, and the worst thing to lose is authority for these people. Also, the company just brought in a CEO as well as other new members to the board of directors. Usually your interaction with them is nonexistent, however I did get the chance to have dinner with the CEO which was amazing!!!
American Water prides itself to be an innovative leader in the water industry. But after experiencing the company as an intern, it far from the perception they want everyone to see. Case in point, when new leadership roles occurred in the marketing department, employees (and even some directors) were up in arms about what was happening. In addition, when I was brought into the company, specifically Human Resources couldn’t grasp the idea of a travel budget for an intern. So for the first few weeks it was a struggling battle at every turn with them. Eventually, my boss stepped in and made sure everything was taken care for before my first trip down to the main office. I even had one directors who spoke openly about her fears in trusting me with the kinds of responsibilities I had been given by my boss and other marketing employees. Change is something American Water struggles with and though it didn’t affect my experience to much, it defiantly was a major obstacle I had to overcome all summer.
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The company starts actively recruiting interns in February on major campuses in the area; Villanova and Rutgers seem to be where the majority of the interns come from. They also post a link on their website for students to apply. Typically they hired a few interns for the summer and then ask one or two to remain working there during their fall and winter semesters while attending college. The marketing department is extremely flexible in working around student’s schedules and recommends you take a week vacation off in the summer during your internship.
The job mostly dealing with corporate marketing but sometime you get to interact with the different outside vendors that American Water employs. However, all advertising is created in-house, so no ad agency. The vendors are manly print companies and organizations that build tradeshow exhibits.
Most applicants during my time there had past corporate marketing experience and the company seems to desire that in there interns. Participating in extracurricular activities that has some aspect of marketing is a plus but isn’t essential and they require a GPA of at less 3.0. They are pretty good at contacting you back once you’ve applied and overall the internship position wasn’t too competitive.
As I mentioned briefly before, the environment outside the marketing department can be quite hostile. The company has over 100 years of history in the water industry and it seems that some of the employees are just as old. Inside the marketing department, environment is actually really fun and always changing. They just hired a lot of young professions which has helped in bring a new identity within the company. The marketing employees are seen by other American water employees as the young crazy kids producing extraordinary marketing strategies that went against the norms and conservative nature of the company. Though there were times other staff members would disapprove of the approach we were taking, in the end the CEO was on our side and that usually ended any more problems.
My boss was the best. I actually had worked with her before she joined American Water, so I had idea of what to expect. Her philosophy is that interns are just as capable as any full-time employee so she expected the same kind of results. If you’re confused about a project don’t be scared to ask questions. She and the rest of the marketing team would rather clear up any uncertainty then receive the project with errors.
Because of my prior working relationship with the director of the marketing department, I didn’t have to go through an interview process.
Yes, I was asked to work for them during my breaks from college and told me I could be promoted to Marketing Coordinator if I wished to accept the position for the following summer.
Summer 2007
Paid
Voorhees, NJ
Reviewed on 03/26/2008