Sydney Booker is a fourth-year Bachelor of Management student majoring in Entrepreneurship and Innovation. She chose Dalhousie for its strong reputation as one of Canada’s top schools, and for the quality of its accredited business school. Originally from Calgary, Sydney says that she has always dreamed of living near the ocean. With a strong interest in business and being a creative thinker, pursuing Management was a clear choice for her.

Sydney applied for the optional internship program because she saw it as a valuable opportunity to gain work experience and build connections in the marketing industry. “I believe that this program provides students with a significant advantage after graduation because they have gained work experience, developed skills related to their desired field of work, and created professional relationships,” she explains.

From May to December 2024, Sydney completed an 8-month internship at Killiam Apartment REIT as a Marketing and Leasing Student. She was responsible for creating content for Killiam’s social media channels, developing social media campaigns, and responding to questions from tenants and prospects. “Creating social media campaigns has been the highlight of my internship because my supervisor has given me the autonomy and creative freedom to develop a plan for the campaigns and design the content,” she shares. Another project she particularly enjoyed working on was designing promotional materials for the Women in Industry event for the Rental Housing Providers of Nova Scotia. She created an interactive digital booklet, banners, name tags, and table cards consistent with the organization’s branding.

Reflecting on her experience, Sydney notes that she developed both soft and hard skills that will benefit her in her future career. Specifically, having gained hands-on experience and knowledge with marketing tools such as WordPress, Drupal, Meta Business Manager, and Hootsuite, she knows these skills will be of value in any future role.

Throughout her internship, Sydney developed many positive relationships with coworkers, supervisors, executives, as well as professionals from other organizations collaborating with Killiam. “These relationships support my career development by providing me access to potential job opportunities, offering valuable wisdom and advice, and developing connections in the marketing and real estate industry.”

Sydney credits Dalhousie with offering many exceptional courses that have provided her with opportunities to learn important skills that have prepared and guided her throughout her internship. To balance her academic responsibilities with her job search, she organized both on Excel spreadsheets and set SMART goals. Her goal was to apply to 2-3 jobs every day while keeping up with her academic deadlines. To accomplish this goal, she dedicated two hours every day to job applications, regardless of her other commitments. “I would highly recommend this method because it helped me manage and monitor my academic responsibilities while staying on track with my goals for my job search,” she adds.

Several resources were key in supporting her job search. Meeting with the Program Specialist for Work Integrated Learning at MCS, attending the Prep Seminar for resume, cover letter, and interview preparation, and using Excel to manage deadline were among the most helpful tools to her.