My internship experience with Schneider Transportation Management

As a marketing major with a focus in business-to-business sales, I wasn’t quite sure what I would get out of an internship with a logistics company. I was aware that it was a sales position, but had absolutely no previous knowledge of the transportation industry and how it functioned.

After my positive internship experience, I can say that I chose a position that allowed me to utilize my communication and relationship building skills, all while challenging me in a fun and energetic environment.

How I discovered Orange

I am currently enrolled in the University of North Texas College of Business. In the fall and spring of the 2015-2016 school year I was in the UNT Professional Selling Program, a program designed to educate and train students on business-to-business sales and marketing within various organizations through lectures, role-plays and case studies.

One of the many beneficial components of being a student in the Professional Selling Program included special presentations made by leading companies within various industries, and an opportunity to interview with these companies for an internship position.

After viewing presentations made by several remarkably successful companies, I was fortunate to attend a presentation made by Schneider Transportation Management (STM) of Dallas, the brokerage arm of Schneider. Throughout the presentation, the representatives of STM preached an atmosphere that was congruent with my ideal working environment: a fast-paced, exciting workplace full of employees holding a positive attitude, all working together around a consistently evolving market.

Within the next month I underwent two successful interviews, was given a tour of the Dallas STM office, and ultimately accepted an internship with Schneider to begin in February 2016.

What is STM?

STM consists of both sellers and brokers. It is the sellers’ job to prospect and reach out for potential customers to book freight with, and ultimately build relationships with them to retain future business and ensure reliability and great customer service. The capabilities of STM are built upon a foundation of 20,000 partner carriers across North America that our brokers have recruited and built relationships with over time. It is the brokers’ job to find the right carrier to move our customers’ freight from its point of origin to its final destination. STM basically serves as an intermediary between company and carrier.

My role with STM

The Professional Selling Program was the start of my career in business-to-business sales and helped me to get my foot in the door. My internship experience with Schneider was the hands-on opportunity that I needed to utilize my sales training and discover my potential.

With my time at Schneider I never really felt like a stereotypical intern. I was given the same training as any full-time, new-hire sales associate and there were never any limitations barring me from receiving the professional experience I sought after.

My position was flexible enough to allow me the opportunity to experience all aspects of STM and how it functioned, while simultaneously learning an industry that I had not previously been exposed to. As an intern, Schneider allowed me to fully explore the inner workings of STM. I was routinely encouraged to sit in and observe any employee in the office, be it a seller cold-calling for new business or a broker covering freight with carriers that he/she had built relationships with.

I was given the tools to research prospective clients and experienced first-hand the process of a real sales call, all while being coached consistently on what I did well and how I could improve in areas that were lacking.

It was incredibly inspiring to intern with an industry-leading company and feel just as important as every associate there. Schneider was the perfect place for me to help jumpstart my sales career, and I hope that my story can inspire you to seek professional experience with them as well.