Thomas Hansen ’23 — I would like to start by thanking the Center for Innovation, Business, and Entrepreneurship (CIBE) at Wabash College, the Dill Small Business Fund, and Jeff Perkins ‘89 for helping to fund my internship this summer. Without all your generosity, we would not have had the opportunity to receive such wonderful summer experiences.
This summer, I had the opportunity to work under Jeff Perkins ‘89. Jeff Perkins is the Managing Director of Stanton Chase: Executive Search Consultants. They are a digital-first executive search firm focused on humanizing the recruitment process and ensuring long-term success for candidates in non-profits, media, and technology. I spent the summer working in their Washington D.C. office as a Research and Business Development intern. My everyday part in the company consisted of numerous roles. I mainly aided in research for new companies, writing articles, creating business development decks that were presented to new clients, and professional development.
Another great aspect of my internship was that it allowed me to visit many places. I had the opportunity to work in our Baltimore firm for a few days and I even got to spend a week in Barcelona. Apart from the fun I had in these two wonderful cities, I was able to benefit from working with new people from all sorts of backgrounds. I quickly learned the importance of building relationships, communication, and being able to work with tons of different people. I saw how clients from each place interacted and what I needed to do to adjust to that. Also, I learned how networking plays a tremendous part in the business world. Jeff Perkins showed me the importance of building a team and that a good reputation is the most important thing you can have.
The greatest aspect of the work that I did with Stanton Chase was participating in active searches. I aided the company in researching and sorting candidates that I felt would be a good fit for our clients. To do this, I needed to learn a lot about what our clients wanted and then see if those people fit their qualifications. This was very interesting because if done right, some clients would like what I found. Most of the roles that I did research on were executive positions. These candidates, if chosen, would be representing our clients tremendously. It was awesome to be able to contribute to such a big part of a company. I am very fortunate to have been able to work under Jeff Perkins and to have been able to experience Washington, D.C. for the summer. I learned many important lessons and skills that I will hopefully carry with me once I graduate.
