Name: Michael Walsh
Year: 2016
Major/Minor: Marketing / Global Supply Chain Management & Communications
Hometown: Cumberland, RI
Company Interned For: Hasbro Inc.
AC: What was your position and your duties on a day to day basis?
MW: My position was US Marketing Intern for the Boy’s division, the brands I was primarily involved with included the Beyblade, B-Daman, and KRE-O. I also helped out on other brands such as Nerf, Marvel, and Transformers. My major day to day projects involved our word of mouth marketing campaigns but I also worked on various ad hoc projects relating to all marketing aspects of the various brands.
AC: What was your favorite part about working for Hasbro and what did you find most challenging? How about one thing you will always remember?!
MW: My favorite part of working at Hasbro was seeing the impact of the work I had done. For example, I worked on a project that involved developing an ‘on package coupon’ that you could find at any Wal-Mart, Target, or Toys ‘R Us across the country. The most challenging part was only having one year of college under my belt. I hadn’t even taken Marketing 201 yet so I did not have the same experience level of other interns and had a lot of ground to make up. Fortunately, I worked with some great people who really taught me a lot and mentored me throughout the process. In addition to the great people I worked with an experience I’ll never forget is when I went to my old 5th grade elementary school class and brought in free product for all the kids. Seeing how excited they were and how much fun they had with the toys made all the work that I did that summer even that more special.
AC: What is the Hasbro culture like?
MW: The culture at Hasbro is great; it’s definitely something the company prides itself on and strives to maintain. They try to keep an innovative and fun vibe going every day. It wouldn’t be uncommon for me to be working and all of a sudden I’d be getting shot with a Nerf blaster.
AC: Which classes from Bryant helped you succeed throughout your internship?
MW: I definitely took things I learned in all my classes and applied them during my internship but my Global Foundations of Business course benefited me the most. At Hasbro I was working with different groups of people every day, the skills and experience I developed while working with my GFOB team made this much easier.
AC: How did you come across it? We know Hasbro is a difficult place to get in the door with so how vital was networking for you?!
MW: I actually first started working at Hasbro during the spring semester of my freshman year. Undergraduate internships are hard to find at Hasbro and sometimes can only by obtained through referrals. I was fortunate enough to know someone who worked at Hasbro who passed my resume along to human resources who brought me in for an interview. While I had originally applied for a summer internship, they offered me a spring semester internship as a Global Marketing Intern for our Playskool brand and I jumped at the opportunity. At the end of that internship, I was interviewed for the position in US Marketing and have been with that group since.
AC: What advice do you have for undergraduate students looking to pursue an internship? Also, is it possible for freshmen to get internships? 
MW: Absolutely, every undergraduate student should try to get at least one internship. In an internship there are lots of things you learn that can’t be taught in the classroom. Also, I have found that experiences I have had during my internship have helped me understand things in class much better. If I’m trying to understand a concept I apply it to how it would work at Hasbro to help better understand. Although most freshmen don’t have an internship it’s definitely a possibility and something every freshmen should try to do. Unfortunately, many companies are looking for students who are Juniors or Seniors so to find internship opportunities you definitely need to utilize your network to help you get your foot in the door.
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