“Not doing busywork” Anne Nisley ’22 reflects on Genesis Products internship

By Patrick Webb ’21

 

Anne Nisley ’22, an accounting major and marketing minor from Goshen, is working as a finance intern at Genesis Products in Elkhart, Indiana, which has given her experience to help with her future career.

Nisley first found out about the Genesis Products internship through David Kendall, director of career networks, who recommended she look at the job & internship bank. Nisley knew about Genesis Products.

“I have a teacher who worked there and said good things about her experiences,” Nisley said. A Genesis Products recruiter reached out to her, and later accepted for the internship.

“My time at GC has developed a lot of soft skills,” Nisley said, which has helped with her internship; such as communication, being a leader and taking initiative.

Through her classes in the business department, Nisley learned a lot of business jargon. That helped her to know what her bosses were talking about and put things together based on what they said.

Nisley’s internship roles were split into two months.

In June, Nisley primarily wrote invoices, “taking shipper’s documents and attaching them to the companies we ship them to through the operation system.”

She also checked bills for different vendors, such as electricity, raw materials and tooling, to ensure they matched the bills in the operating system.

At the end of each day, Nisley sent out missing shippers lists to plant managers, to put into their correct files the next day.

Nisley’s role shifted in July, when she was assigned plant audits. Nisley was given around three weeks to inspect Genesis Products’ eight plants in Indiana.

For the audit, Nisley spent her time going to each plant, auditing the equipment to make sure it’s there, and recording if it’s tagged or not with the ownership sticker and barcode. She learned what equipment is used for manufacturing through the audit.

Nisley found the audit hard as she was in charge, even with help from the plant managers. She didn’t mind the challenge.

“I’ve had the opportunity to do things that real employees would take on. That to me shows a great amount of trust [Genesis Products has] in their interns,” said Nisley.

Nisley knows that isn’t every intern’s experience, such as the stereotype of the intern getting coffee.

“I’m not doing busywork, I’m doing actual work employees would do,” said Nisley. “That to me is very fulfilling.”

Nisley has several takeaways from her internship.

“I’ve learned a lot of the language of the business world, especially in accounting,” said Nisley.

Nisley has also built relationships within Genesis Products to add to her network, and may help them with projects in the future.

Nisley’s still deciding what type of accounting she wants to do for her career. Her Genesis Products internship has been inhouse accounting. She’s also considered public accounting, where businesses conduct accounting for companies.

The experience in the corporate setting has helped Nisley understand how businesses function, which will help with her career and next internship. In the spring semester, Nisley will be an auditing intern at Crowe LLP.