Budler ’19 Collaborates with High Caliber Non-Profit and Educational Firms

Nicholas Budler ’19 Huntbridge – I spent the summer as an Associate of Media and Public Relations at Huntbridge, Inc., an executive search firm in Indianapolis, with an office in Washington D.C. The focus of my work was on writing for executives and press releases, communicating with clients, supporting the leadership team, social media, and developing new business.

Thanks to the Lilly Endowment, I was able to spend part of my first summer in Washington DC and apply myself in a new area of work. As a Philosophy major I wasn’t expecting to work—ever—in Human Resources and I barely knew anything about executive search. Now, I’ve grown as a professional and as well-rounded human being. I’ve met fantastic people, worked with successful executives, and made friends from around the country.

In particular, I worked in collaboration with several high caliber non-profit and educational firms in DC as well as a bio-science firm in Indiana. None of these sectors were related to anything I had done previously but I was able to learn on my feet and adapt to the situation. I worked closely with our leadership team to close these deals, assist the executives during the on-boarding process, and support the firms throughout the searches as well as having increasing business opportunities throughout the duration of my internship.

Similarly, I spent time networking, scheduling, and meeting with both executives and candidates for open searches. This brought me into contact with unique individuals that I am now able to call friends. Thanks to my time at Wabash I was able to professionally and critically integrate myself into this environment. The communication with candidates was crucial to the success of our executive searches: screening, scheduling, and interviewing.

Finally, I had the opportunity to interview, hire, and train a new Huntbridge employee. Sitting on the other side of the table was a new experience but proved insightful to me – especially as I go off into more interviews (and, eventually, the job market) myself.