Name: Matt Hemker

Major: Marketing

Class of: 2018

Location of intern site: Jim Siegert American Family Insurance

Major Responsibilities: Trying to get new potential clients for Jim as well as running home and auto quotes for potential clients.

How did I find out about this internship?: I contacted the American Family southeast Minnesota sales district leader about working with an agent, and he was very helpful and I was lucky enough to be assigned with Jim.

Favorite part of the internship? Working with Jim on a daily basis, and learning good sales techniques and customer service traits.

Most challenging part?: The hardest part for me so far has been dealing with a lot of rejection, in sales not everybody will buy your product and you will hear a lot of “No’s”, but it’s important to keep your head up and not get down on yourself.

Biggest lesson learned at internship: Never take short cuts, always go the extra mile and you may not see results at first, but it will pay off in the long run.

Anything else: Even though it may be uncomfortable at first, try to do an internship! It has been very beneficial dealing with real world situations that you can’t learn inside a class room.