MONACA, Pa. — Penn State Beaver student Sanskriti Walia is just beginning her experience with internships and job searches, while alumna Malaysia Wallace is several years into her professional career.
What they both have in common is their shared recognition of the importance of networking and internships.
Walia, a third-year computer science engineering major, has been interning for the Beaver Valley LaunchBox for several semesters, organizing events on and off campus and helping with the LaunchBox’s website and social media.
It was her networking skills at a campus event that led to a new opportunity as a summer intern with Peoples Gas.
Walia said she attended Penn State Connections — an on-campus networking event developed by counselor Brenda Schultz that links current Beaver students with Penn State alumni — where she met Ed Palombo, vice president of reliability for Peoples, who talked to the students about internship opportunities.
Palombo, who also is a member of the Penn State Beaver Advisory Board, said he remembers at the networking event Walia was at his table and was asking questions and engaging, and then she circled back at the end of the event to talk to him again.
He encouraged her to apply for a summer internship. He said every summer Peoples hires 10 to 15 interns in a variety of departments, including information technology, supply chain and logistics.
Walia followed through with the application process and was hired as a project management intern.
She said her project management internship incorporated many technology-related skills, such as using coding to automate reports and help with forecasting and timeline management.
“Peoples got me into their real-time projects with real-time problems to solve. They gave me great feedback I could learn from, and they were a great team to work with,” Walia said.
Expanding on a foundation
Wallace, a communications major who graduated from the Beaver campus in 2021, also started her career in corporate communications at Peoples with help from Palombo.
Wallace said her initial internship in 2020 was canceled because of COVID-19 lockdowns, so her professor, the late John Chapin, helped her find a virtual internship with Crisis Center North. She presented on her internship experience to the Penn State Advisory Board.
Palombo took notice.
“I was so impressed with her,” he recalled. He began to work with Wallace through a campus mentorship program and recommended her for a temporary administrative assistant position in the corporate communications division at Peoples.
Wallace said even though it was just a temporary position, she knew it could lead to more.
She was right.
Not long after she began, she was offered a full-time position as a communications specialist. A year after that she was promoted to an external and digital communications specialist.
“I’m super grateful for all of it,” Wallace said. “The stars aligned so perfectly. I know it’s hard for people who are applying with no experience. To have it fall in my lap was like the cheat code.”
In 2024, Wallace advanced her career again when she was hired as a corporate communications and social media specialist with Anaplan, a global software development company. She now works with associates in Europe, Japan and Singapore and can travel for work.
“Peoples gave me the foundation, and I could expand on it,” she said.
‘You really need to network’
Walia, Wallace and Palombo all stressed the importance of networking and internship experience for current students.
“Start early … attend networking events, especially on campus,” Walia said. “Make genuine connections and reach out in a prompt and regular manner. It’s just making the most of the opportunity.”
Palombo said he tries to impress upon students that it is not enough to just get a degree and apply for jobs.
“You really need to network,” he said. “There are so many people trying to get one job. If people are trying to reach out and help, it gives you some support.”
Wallace said her classes at Penn State Beaver “100%” prepared her for her career. She mentioned social media and writing classes taught by Director of Enrollment Justin Vorbach and Senior Director of Enrollment Management for Southwestern Pennsylvania Dan Pinchot.
But, she said, just going to class isn’t enough.
“A lot of people think going to class and then going to their room and getting that piece of paper is it,” Wallace said. “There’s so much more to it. Build those relationships and networks. … You have to be ready to level up. Let people know your face, your name, your aspirations, so yours is the first name in their mind.”