This summer, I landed an internship with Xcel Energy and worked at their Minneapolis headquarters as a transmission business investment analyst.
For some economics majors, the ideal internship is something on Wall Street, but my summer experience at Xcel Energy made me realize that the Twin Cities area is rich with highly competitive internship opportunities. I am still amazed at how I could find such an incredible offer just two buses away from Mac.
“My proud moments always come from those occasions when my work is passed directly to senior executives. It’s then that I realize the relevance and value of the work I am doing at Xcel Energy.”
What’s even more amazing about the way in which I got this internship is that I had my interview just one day after turning in my final Econometrics paper. I took the paper to my interview since it was relevant to the job description; we ended up spending more than half the interview talking about my paper, which was based on corruption in Africa. It impressed my boss so much that she decided to hire me based on the skills I had acquired from writing the paper. Moreover, Mac classes such as financial accounting also have been critical in doing my job at Xcel, which proves how Macalester equips us with the skills we need in the real world.
I’m inspired to be working for a Fortune 500 company that also provides Macalester with a key service— electric power.
My work generally revolves around strategic planning for, and analysis of, the company’s future investments in transmission infrastructure. Such planning has involved compiling transmission business and financial intelligence data, analyzing competitors’ developments, and monitoring industry trends.
My proud moments always come from those occasions when my work is passed directly to senior executives. It’s then that I realize the relevance and value of the work I am doing at Xcel Energy.
Simbarashe Musasa is part of Macalester’s Davis United World College Scholars.
August 30 2012
Back to topMore Internships News
Internship at the Nature Conservancy
Amanda de Souza ’25 works creating a best practices guide around tribal engagement
Coding accessible educational tools
Student interns at a start up
Uncovering Ancient Fossils
Interning at the Science Museum of Minnesota
Internship at the Center for Energy and Environment
Georgia Barnes monitors Minnesota's gas and electric compliance
Story-writing intern brings ideas together
As part of her environmental studies capstone, Julia Chamberland has been writing stories for Minnesota Upstream.
MacConnect: Washington, D.C.
Over spring break, a group of students explored social science careers in Washington, D.C., with MacConnect.