Internships office

How did you manage to get this internship?
The cocktail party organized by the CPA committee is what opened the door. It allowed me to enter the recruitment process and connect with the right people. I then followed up with them on LinkedIn—and that’s how I landed my internship.

What was your day-to-day like?
It was a mix of finance and accounting. I did all kinds of things: I worked on tax, financial services, and audit files, for example. My days were a combination of team meetings, tasks I handled on my own, others where I was coached, and plenty of client meetings.

What did you get out of this internship?
This summer was incredible: I built great relationships, deepened my knowledge of accounting and finance, and fully lived the KPMG experience.

It was amazing to be exposed to so many different situations—it confirmed that I had chosen the right specializations. I also learned much more during the internship than in class: I had to deal with many exceptions that we had never even covered in theory at school.

But above all, this internship proved to me that I was in the right environment. It made me realize how important it is to love where you are and who you’re working with.

And on a personal level?
There was a healthy sense of competition, which I really enjoyed. It pushed me out of my comfort zone: I had to stand out and bring my best every single day.

What surprised you the most?
The human side really surprised me. I used to think that in a Big Four firm, you’d just be a number. In reality, I felt that everyone was kind, supportive, and genuinely willing to help.

I was also impressed by the resources available, especially the financial support. For example, KPMG is covering the cost of my CPA and offering tutoring for DESS students in accounting.

What were the highlights of your internship?
There were 60 other interns in our cohort—it almost felt like starting at HEC all over again! I loved all the events organized to build team spirit: we went tree climbing, had team dinners during major projects… I even DJed at happy hours hosted in our office tower. And of course, I really enjoyed learning more about my industry and getting a real taste of what to expect after graduation.

What did you find most challenging?
In a large organization like this, there are times when you’re not quite sure what to do next. You really have to speak up: ask for what you need and let people know you’re available for new assignments. Standing out in such a big group wasn’t a problem for me, but for others it can feel intimidating.

This internship also made me realize that you need to show up not only at the office, but outside of it, too: business often grows out of the relationships you build with people.

What advice would you give to a student who’s hesitating about doing an internship?
Many people don’t realize how many opportunities and resources the school offers. Take the time to connect with student committees, your professors, and Career Management Services.

In business, grades are not what matters most—it’s the person behind them: how well you network, how you stand out from the crowd, and how effectively you connect with the right people. Learning to “sell yourself” is essential.

Do you think this internship will open doors for you? Would you like to do another one?
It has already opened doors: I was invited to speak to future interns as a KPMG ambassador. Going forward, I plan to apply for additional internships in accounting and later in finance. I’ll be targeting large companies, because I’ve realized that I really enjoy that kind of culture: they tend to be more performance-oriented, and that resonates with me.

How did you end up doing this internship?
I was working for “Le Réseau des femmes d'affaires du Québec” (RFAQ) when I seized the opportunity to apply for a project management internship! The timing was perfect, as I was looking to deepen my skills in this area by taking on more strategic assignments.”

What were your responsibilities during your internship?
The RFAQ’s mission is to support businesswomen through a wide range of services, including training, networking events, activities, and award ceremonies. As part of my internship, I had the opportunity to work within the RFAQ and contribute to the planning and management of major large-scale projects.

What did you gain from this internship?
This internship helped me better understand what I enjoy most—not only in terms of tasks, but also in terms of work environment. It reinforced my desire to work in mission-driven organizations that create social or economic impact. I now feel much more aligned with my career goals and more motivated for the future.
I also developed new skills by being involved in all phases of project management, from planning to execution. It was extremely rewarding to see the concrete results of my work and to apply what I had learned in class to real projects. Putting theory into practice made everything much more meaningful and memorable.

What surprised you most during this experience?
People often imagine project management as work done behind a computer in an office, but in reality, it’s deeply human and rooted in real, hands-on interactions. I was able to see the direct results of my efforts and the many hours invested—and how they benefited women entrepreneurs. That was truly amazing.

What were the best moments?
I especially loved the events and all the inspiring encounters that came with them. Talking with women entrepreneurs and collaborating with my colleagues was incredibly energizing—I came away from those moments feeling truly uplifted.
I also enjoyed the variety and creativity of the work. Every day was different, and I felt that I could genuinely help improve processes and make things more efficient.

And what did you find most difficult?
The various challenges I was entrusted with pushed me to test my limits, seek out information independently, and stay alert and responsive.

Do you think an internship is relevant for someone who already has professional experience?
Yes—an internship is valuable even for people who are already employed. It can help them specialize further, explore a new field, or prepare for a career change.

What would you say to someone who is hesitant about doing an internship?
An internship helps you confirm whether you’re on the right path… instead of realizing it too late, once you’re already in the job market. It’s a real asset: it gives you concrete professional experience to add to your résumé and allows you to build meaningful connections in your field.

What advice would you give to someone looking for an internship?
Be proactive: go out and open doors—no one will do it for you, especially as a woman.
Don’t hesitate to ask about opportunities within your own company, even if no internships are formally advertised. Stay curious, stay connected, and nurture your network through events and professional gatherings (Editor’s note: see the networking events calendar here).

Do you think this internship will open doors for you?
This internship has been deeply enriching, both personally and professionally. It allowed me to learn more about myself, gain confidence, and expand my network. The skills I developed and the experience I gained truly represent a springboard for the next steps in my career.

Hello Marie! Can you tell us about your recruitment process as an intern?
The recruitment process at Desjardins was well structured and transparent. I really appreciated the speed and efficiency at every stage. The interview with my manager really stuck with me: we didn't just talk about the team's needs, but also about what I liked to do and wanted to do, so that my responsibilities would align with my interests. 

How was your welcome and integration into the new team?
As soon as I arrived, my manager introduced me to each member of the team and invited me to go for coffee. She quickly took me to several meetings and gave me all the documentation I needed.
I really appreciated the open attitude and availability of my colleagues: they were always ready to answer my questions and support me.

What did you learn during your internship?
I was able to improve my skills in data analysis and strategic planning. I also developed my marketing intelligence expertise by participating in the development of diagnostics for marketing plans. 
This allowed me to contribute to strategic initiatives for Desjardins' client companies. I also worked on my soft skills: my ability to adapt, my teamwork, my communication, and my priority management.

How were you guided during your internship?
The support was great! My manager regularly gave me constructive feedback and encouraged me to get actively involved in projects. She quickly clarified the internship objectives and the percentage of my time to be allocated to each project (while making adjustments along the way).  I was also lucky to have different people mentoring me depending on the project. 

Describe the work environment and communication within the team.
I would say that the work environment was both dynamic and collaborative. Communication was fluid, whether virtual or in person. We had several weekly virtual follow-up meetings, and we regularly planned in-person get-togethers to share a meal or just catch up. Every member of the team was really available and willing to help to their colleagues.

How did your manager make a difference in your internship experience?
My manager had a significant impact on my experience: she constantly made sure that I enjoyed my tasks and allowed me to collaborate with various team members. This helped me learn a lot.
Her regular feedback allowed me to develop specific skills and constantly improve. I also really appreciated her transparency and leadership: I felt confident asking questions and exploring new ideas.

What did you like the most about your internship at Desjardins?
I really appreciated the corporate culture, which encourages a good work-life balance and offers great benefits. I also enjoyed participating in team-building activities.
Contributing to large-scale projects, such as the 2025 marketing plan, was also very rewarding.
Finally, I would say that I loved being able to see the concrete impact of my work on the performance of the companies’ clients.

What did you like the most about your internship at Desjardins?
I really appreciated the corporate culture, which encourages a good work-life balance and offers great benefits. I also enjoyed participating in team-building activities.
Contributing to large-scale projects, such as the 2025 marketing plan, was also very rewarding.
Finally, I would say that I loved being able to see the concrete impact of my work on the performance of the companies’ clients.

Did this internship have a concrete impact on your employability?
Yes, absolutely. The internship directly impacted my employability, as I was offered a marketing consultant position by the company.

Tell us about your background.
After studying political science, I worked for 13 years in the Democratic Republic of Congo within a trade union organization, where I coordinated various projects as a self-taught professional. When I arrived in Quebec in 2017, I held several positions, including customer service representative, machine operator, and quality control technician in a manufacturing environment. Passionate about project management and eager to strengthen my skills through more structured theoretical training—while giving myself the opportunity to access better career prospects—I decided to enroll in the Project Management Certificate program at HEC Montréal.

Why did you want to do an internship?
I wanted to reconnect with the professional world and gain a clearer understanding of what’s happening on the ground in organizations here.

How did you get this internship?
After applying to many positions without success, I decided to take a more proactive approach. I reached out to the Bordeaux-Cartierville Immigrant Community Support Center (CACI), an organization I knew well as both a former client and a volunteer. I found the Executive Director’s contact information online and called her directly. She was surprised—but a few days later, I received a call inviting me to begin the recruitment process.

What were your responsibilities?
My role was to standardize and centralize all of the organization’s projects in a new ERP system.

Was there anything that surprised you?
Yes. They placed a lot of trust in me and gave me significant responsibility for an intern. For example, they allowed me to participate in a meeting with the Ministry of Finance, one of their funding partners. It was an incredible sign of confidence, and I’m very grateful for that.

Did you face any challenges during your internship?
First, I didn’t know anything about ERPs at the start, so I had to learn how to use the system by watching online tutorials. Second, it’s a very fast-paced environment—people work hard and efficiently, so I had to keep up. I also discovered how crucial change management is in an IT project: it was a real challenge to mobilize stakeholders who had to give up their own tools and adopt the new ERP system.

Which skills did you develop during your internship?
I strengthened my leadership skills by taking charge of project meetings with the various stakeholders. I also improved my flexibility and my ability to adapt to unexpected challenges—whether related to resources, timelines, or tools. For example, I had to work with the free version of the ERP, which required us to save our work every seven days. These constraints pushed me to stay agile and solution-oriented throughout the project.

Did this internship inspire you?
Absolutely. The environment was both dynamic and highly stimulating. I was truly inspired by the work ethic of several team members—they were incredibly efficient, dedicated, and consistently focused on practical solutions. Watching how they approached situations had a real impact on me and reshaped the way I look at things, both professionally and in everyday life.

Do you have a message for certificate students?
If you’re thinking about changing direction, an internship is an excellent way to gain access to a field you haven’t worked in before. It allows you to get your foot in the door and experience the day-to-day reality of a new profession.
For those studying project management, remember that every project is unique and comes with its own specific challenges. An event-planning project, for example, is very different from a community initiative or a research and development project. After completing your studies, it’s essential to identify the field that truly resonates with you so you can apply your skills in a context that motivates you.

What are you most proud of?
I’m proud of having shown that I can deliver concrete results and build practical solutions from scratch. One example is securing sponsorship for a project by reaching out to my former employer—a major company—even though I had no initial contacts or resources for that initiative.

Do you think this internship will open doors for you?
Absolutely. This internship has already created opportunities: it led to a three-month contract during which I managed two additional projects. Since hiring in the non-profit sector is closely tied to funding, nothing is guaranteed—but there is a very good chance that a position will become available in January.

Hi Helena! Can you tell us how you ended up doing this internship?
I was looking for a summer internship in Montreal after my 2nd year. I planned quite early because I'm from the Laurentides: in October I started applying everywhere and got no response. After a few weeks, I started to get discouraged.
During the pandemic, I babysat for the child of someone with whom I had a very strong bond, who happened to be VP Marketing at Bombardier. She forwarded my CV to her team and after 2 interviews they offered me an internship in January.
As I was looking for a summer internship, they agreed to take me on part-time between now and the summer. I was supposed to finish at the end of august, but in the end, I was extended until December.

What were your tasks?
Surprisingly, there wasn't much in the events field, and most of my tasks were in finance: the events team manages a multi-million budget for large-scale events, mostly outside the country. So, there were very few local events.

Were you disappointed?
At first, I was surprised, but at the same time I was happy because it gave me the opportunity to learn about things I'd never done before, such as Excel, SAP and payment processes.
I was still able to talk to my team about it, and then finally I was able to do a bit more local event planning.

What were the highlights of your internship?
I was in a private open buffet box at the President's Cup (a prestigious golf event) with 36 clients, and at Canadian Business Aviation.
Above all, I got to chat with Toto Wolff, the big boss of F1 Mercedes! It was incredible: I shook for 24 hours. As a rural girl from the Laurentides, I never thought I'd have that kind of experience at my age.
An internship is so much more than a 9 to 5: it opens so many fun opportunities.

What did the internship bring you personally?
The internship helped me understand what I really like and what I don't like. It allowed me to validate what I want to do and where I want to go.
That's why I think it's very important to do an internship: by doing it while you're studying, you can graduate knowing right away where you want to go.

What advice would you give to a student who's hesitating about doing an internship?
Not wanting to go on an exchange is one thing. Not doing an internship, I think, is a big mistake.
There are so many benefits to doing an internship: you can make money, gain independence from your parents, you'll learn what you like and don't like... and what's more, if it's credited, you have one less course to do!
If you've never done an internship and you've never worked during your studies, you can hit a wall when you leave school and find yourself doing things that don't suit you.
And even if you didn't like your internship, at least you'll have learned something: that you didn't like it 😊

Did this internship open any doors for you?
I'm passionate about motorsports. What it has in common with the aviation world is that it's the same clients: someone who has a private jet often has a luxury car. In motorsport, things happen in Europe, but my LinkedIn network was just accounting and finance students in Montreal.
This internship enabled me to broaden my network of contacts, especially geographically.

What did you learn from this internship?
The internship helped me understand the role of each department in an organization: why HR, marketing and sales are needed just as much as legal.
I also understood in concrete terms what was behind the vocabulary that seemed very vague to me: Q1, Q2, return on investment..., etc. now it speaks to me! I learn much better by trial and error, and doing an internship really suited me because it was very concrete.

Would you like to do another internship?
100%! But more in marketing because that's my specialization. I want to see the other side of things. Maybe in a smaller company.

Hello Olivier! Can you tell us what made you decide to do an internship?
I couldn't really see how I was going to handle a job with just theory. School isn't real life: it's a preparation. Doing an internship was a way of getting a better idea of the job I could get in my chosen specialization.

What did you do during your internship?
I was involved in all the accounting related to expenses for deputies and parties.

How did you find it?
I sent out CVs all over the place. I was interested in politics, so I didn't hesitate to apply to the assembly. And to my great surprise, I was selected!
I applied 5 months in advance because the recruitment process is quite long.

What surprised you most during your internship?
I was surprised by the quality of the supervision: we were 3 interns, and our superiors really took the time to coach us. We had 2 hours a week of specific training on accounting, in addition to the follow-up of our tasks!

Tell us what you liked the most about your internship.
I loved seeing what happens behind the scene, where the public doesn't have access: being able to walk into the assembly, the private corridors, the underground passageways, running into deputies being interviewed by the media in the corridors.
I also really enjoyed not being behind a desk all day (like at school) and meeting people. And in business, it's important to have contacts!

And what did you find most challenging?
Adjusting to new tasks, to a new place, and to new people: I realized that everyone had different ways of working and that you had to adapt to everyone.

Did this internship open any doors for you?
Yes, I've converted my internship into a student job: I'm back in the classroom, but I'm still doing hours remotely and at my own pace. I don't have a minimum or maximum number of hours: I work when I can and that's ideal!

Is there anything you didn't expect?
I thought I was going to be doing basic tasks, but I was invited to take part in the assembly's steering committees: they asked me for my opinion a lot and they took it into account. It was really rewarding!

What advice would you give to a student who's hesitating about doing an internship?
Take the plunge and give it a try.
Also, in accounting, the Big 4 are highly valued, but I'd also advise them to look elsewhere: in a smaller structure, you can learn lots of different things. And just because you're not in a Big 4 doesn't mean you won't do well!
If you want to land a job you love, it's not your HEC diploma that's going to make the difference: it's your work experience.

What did your internship teach you?
I learned a lot about accounting standards specific to the public sector - because we don't talk about them in the classroom.
I also acquired a lot of soft skills: being quicker and more efficient in my day-to-day tasks, or solving problems with an open mind, for example.

Did the internship enable you to take a step back from your studies?
Yes, I realized that all the courses were based on rote learning, whereas in the job market you don't need to know everything by heart: you just need to know how to look for information.
I also realized that a 4.1 GPA isn't going to make you any better at your job.

Hi Alyssa, how was your internship?
I loved it!

Tell us more
I really liked this internship because it ticked all my boxes.
I loved the corporate culture, and particularly the importance given to DEI (there are a lot of committees encouraging diversity, equity, and inclusion). It really made me feel good at work.
I also loved the learning curve potential: I got to work on a bit of everything and on different mandates.
Secondly, I felt very supported by the team: they were always available to answer any of my questions. Finally, I really appreciated the number of resources available, whether on AI, IFRS or the company.

What surprised you the most?
When I told my father I was going to do an internship in a Big 4, he said something like “You're going to find yourself stuck in an office all day, working crazy hours and not talking to anyone!“ Well, not at all! I connected with a lot of young people through numerous social activities. I really felt that I was in my element.

What impact will your internship have on the rest of your career?
This internship has enabled me to get my DESS winter internship 😊
The fun thing is that I'll be working with the same people!
I've even got a job for life, as a lot of interns are hired afterwards.

When did you start looking for your internship and how did you find it?
I found it at the start of my second year in the fall: I went for it even though I hadn't had many specialized courses.
I went to a lot of recruiting and networking events organized by the Comité CPA. Then I connected on LinkedIn with the people I met. I saw on their LinkedIn profiles that they were organizing office visits, so I went along. There I was able to talk to partners and senior managers who recommended me to the recruitment team.

What did your internship bring you?
The internship confirmed my choice of specialization. I know I'll be working a lot harder during my DESS internship, because it'll be during the busy season, but in this environment, it suits me. It's the lifestyle I've chosen.

What was the most challenging part?
The first week of training was very theoretical and there was a lot of information. I wondered if I was going to be able to do it, but in the end, I realized that I was just stressed by the change: in less than a week I felt better because I was well supervised and had the right resources.

What advice would you give to a student who hesitates about doing an internship?
Get out of your comfort zone! Even if it seems vague now, it'll become clear after your internship.
It's by jumping in and trying something new that you'll surprise yourself.
And also: your LinkedIn profile is very important, it's Number 1! It's the place where you can make a good impression with extracurricular activities related to the business world in particular. Being active and having a good profile are brownie points.