Internship Spotlight: Jessica Moran

Trina Stroedecke
Technology Section Editor

I had the amazing opportunity to sit down for an interview with Jessica Moran, a Junior Accounting major in the Stillman School of Business. Jessica interned with a multinational medical technologies company, Stryker.

Q: What type of internship did you complete and what were some of your responsibilities?

A: This summer I was a Technical Accounting and Financial Compliance Intern for Stryker’s Orthopaedics Division of their Mahwah, NJ location. I worked remotely from home, and my work focused on two main areas: Royalties and Revenue Recognition. I worked on several projects, including improving Stryker’s royalty payment process via the development of a formula and data-driven payment calculation spreadsheet template and summary spreadsheet template to drive efficiencies. These templates will be used by the royalty team in the future to calculate royalty payments and provide summaries to upper management. I also assisted with the integration of the Wright Medical Group (a multi-billion-dollar acquisition of Stryker) royalties into Stryker-based systems via new process developments, as well as completing the Q2 2021 Revenue Recognition Audits and Royalty Payment calculations.

Q: Why did you decide on Stryker?

A: In high school, I became a certified Emergency Medical Technician and became a volunteer EMT on the rescue squad in my hometown. I used Stryker stretchers and other medical equipment when caring for patients, but at the time, I had not yet discovered my interest in accounting. After meeting with a Stryker recruiter at the Fall 2020 Career Fair on campus, I figured it would be the perfect company for me—I could combine my passion for healthcare and business in working at this Fortune 500 healthcare technology company. It was truly the perfect fit!

Q: How did you go about finding and obtaining this internship? Why did you apply to this one specifically?

A: I truly have the Seton Hall Fall 2020 Career Fair and the Stryker recruiter that came to that virtual career fair to thank for my invaluable internship experience this summer. After sending out over 15 applications and not getting any replies back, I thought there was nothing else I could do. Then, at the last minute (and with very little hope remaining), I decided to attend the career fair, and out of the 10+ recruiters I spoke with, one recruiter gave me a chance, that recruiter was from Stryker.

Q: What is the most valuable skill that you’ve learned from your experience so far?

A: That would have to be the importance of networking and making meaningful connections with the members of your team and managers. It is so important to not only work with others at the company in a professional and efficient way but to get to know them and appreciate them outside of work.

Q: How is learning in a work environment different from working in a classroom?

A: Projects are more fun and flexible–I used the knowledge that I learned in school to produce something that added value to the company. I came to realize that all of my projects had very little constraints, other than time and money—work became more creative for me than school! There weren’t rubrics or very set ways of doing things. Stryker gave me the responsibility and opportunity to get creative with my work, and this helped me grow as a critical thinker and creative problem solver.

Q: What is the company culture like?

A: I truly found Stryker to be the most supportive company and environment. My manger and team took the time to train me and teach me whenever possible and made me feel welcomed and included throughout the experience—when I was leaving and saying my “goodbyes,” some of my coworkers did not even know I was an intern because my manager and director integrated me so well into the team and made me feel as important as a full-time employee. Additionally, Stryker is truly driven by its mission to make healthcare better, and every employee that I came in contact with truly embodied the mission and did their very best work in an effort to promote that mission for our customers, patients, and stakeholders.

Q: What are some skills that you learned at Seton Hall that you used in your internship?

A: I brought with me tremendous leadership skills and emotional intelligence that I developed through the Buccino Leadership Institute on campus. The experience I gained in the Institute through working on the interdisciplinary team projects helped me with the intern group project at Stryker Without these skills, I do not think my internship group project would have been as successful.

Seton Hall also enabled me with the technical skills I needed to succeed at my individual projects. Throughout my internship, I relied heavily on Microsoft Excel, and the Management Information Systems class that I took freshman year at Stillman proved to be invaluable.  I would recommend every freshman to take full advantage of that course as all finance and accounting jobs now rely heavily on a strong, working knowledge of Excel. In addition to Excel, I used Oracle, OneSource, Global Item Master, Adobe Acrobat, Microsoft Word, Microsoft Teams, Microsoft PowerPoint, and DocuSign throughout my internship.

Q: What advice would you give to students who are actively searching for internships?

A: My advice stems from the fact that I almost did not apply to Stryker— I’m not kidding!

• Focus on the people: You need a person to go the extra mile for you. Your grades get you the ability to apply; a connection with someone gets you the employee contract. It was not that I wasn’t “good enough” or couldn’t do well at any of those other internships, I just had to connect with the right person that would take a chance on me and appreciate the value that I would bring to the company.
• Go where you are wanted: Stryker wanted me and recognized my connection to its mission. That is something to appreciate, and it ended up being the best fit for me.
• In an odd way, celebrate the rejections. It is okay if the rejections build up because that one success that you ultimately obtain is going to cover all those rejections. You will not even remember them (until you reflect, which is important…but don’t dwell on them).
• Speaking of rejections…Don’t give up. People say it all the time, but right when you want to give up is probably the best moment to keep going. Had I not attended the career fair (after not hearing back from over a dozen companies), my summer of 2021 would have probably looked a LOT different.

I am so grateful to have this opportunity and for that recruiter, and I wanted to share this story. It’s easy to see all of the successes because people share them openly, but it’s just as important to highlight the challenges that led up to them.

Q: What is next for you in your career? Did your internship experience help guide your future career goals?

Now that I’ve gained experience in private Accounting and Finance, I am eager and looking forward to gaining experience in public accounting next summer with the Big 4 as an intern at KPMG.

I am so thankful to Stryker for providing me with such a strong foundation in not only Accounting and Finance but in the areas of networking, work ethic, professionalism, emotional intelligence, and leadership. I feel ready to take on public accounting!

 

Contact Trina at stroedka@shu.edu