18 DeGroote business students win internships

[img_inline align=”right” src=”http://padnws01.mcmaster.ca/images/apprentice08.jpg” caption=”Apprentice contestants (from left to right) Rachel Affoo, Nixshi Narendra, Natalie Starszyk, Monika Sungaila, Dan Borrelli, Akram Sharkawy, Madhav Mehta, Meghan Merkler, Chris Wei, Kejina Robinson, Heather Moffat and Danielle Castellan celebrate at the finale of the 2008 competition.”]

Four Commerce students from the DeGroote School of Business received job offers last night at the finale of the School's fourth annual MARS Apprentice competition. A total of 18 McMaster students have received internships through the Apprentice since the competition began in 2002.

This summer, Natalie Starszyk will be working with RBC Financial Services, Madhav Mehta will be with Frito Lay, Kejina Robinson will be at Jan Kelley Marketing and Meghan Merkler will be with Maple Leaf Foods.

Along with the internships, a number of other awards were distributed at the closing ceremonies.

Rachel Affoo was recognized with the Xerox Leadership award and Heather Moffat received a $6,000 scholarship from Canadian Tire Financial Services.

MARS Apprentice gives students the opportunity to gain hands-on experience working with some of the biggest companies in Canada. Over the past six weeks, two teams of 12 undergraduate Commerce students have put their business skills to the test in challenges from sponsoring companies. Students have developed new advertising campaigns, tapped new customer markets and created new products.

“MARS Apprentice is an innovative way for students to test themselves and apply the skills that they're learning in the classroom to real marketing issues,” says faculty advisor Mandeep Malik. “The calibre of this year's candidates and the work they produced was outstanding.”