After months of rearranging plans due to the COVID-19 pandemic, CONMED kicked off the 2020 Talent Launch Internship Program in July. Hear from Talent Acquisition Intern, Justin, on his positive experience interning at CONMED this summer, despite the numerous changes and challenges!

Enjoy The Journey - CONMED Internship 2020

When I began my search for an internship, I knew that I was interested in the medical device industry, sales in particular. This is what originally attracted me to CONMED, since the company is a global leader in a variety of device spaces. After going through the interview process, I was delighted to learn that I had been chosen for a marketing internship in the orthopedics division! As the spring semester rolled around, I was finalizing my living plans with fellow interns and had all sights set on my internship for the summer.

Then COVID hit.

Hundreds of internship programs were affected – some were transitioned from in-person to virtual, many were postponed, and many internships were canceled altogether. I was genuinely nervous about my internship being added to the list of canceled internships, but fortunately, CONMED assured me that while the start date was being pushed back and the program was going to be fully virtual, they still had full plans to follow through with their commitment to delivering a quality internship experience, regardless of the circumstances. In addition to the delayed start date and the transition to a virtual setting, my position was also changed from Marketing Intern to Talent Acquisition Intern.

I must admit, I was a little bit nervous about the changes to the program since I would be doing a different job than expected in a different location and method than planned! However, I was delightfully surprised once the program began. I never thought I would feel so included and part of the team, despite never having gone on-site or meeting most of my teammates in person.

Working with the Talent Acquisition team has been a great experience. I have gotten the opportunity to participate in a variety of projects, such as website development, research, developing a marketing campaign, sourcing, and more. I know that the skills and abilities I have refined over this internship will directly translate to whatever I decide to pursue in the future.

My experience so far at CONMED has been nothing short of excellent. I have been able to network with lots of CONMED employees in a variety of departments and have gained perspective and insight into all the different jobs CONMED has to offer. I know that the connections and skills I have built here will be ones I will use and build on for the rest of my career. If I could go back and tell myself a word of advice when I was worried about plans not going my way, I would refer to a sentence I heard during an executive leadership panel hosted for interns: “Enjoy the journey on your way to the destination.” While this internship experience has been an abbreviated one, and much different than I expected, I wouldn’t have it any other way.

Written by Justin C. (Talent Acquistion Intern, Summer 2020)

If you or someone you know is interning at a company now or will be in the future, check out our blog post:
6 Tips to Maximize Your Internship

Interested in CONMED Internship or full-time opportunities? Be sure to join our Talent Community today to receive real-time updates when new positions become available!