Senior Marie Montoya Herrera says her internship opened the door to her future career
By Maria I. Pineda-Contreras
Like many of her Communications and Media Studies peers, Senior Marie Montoya Herrera was on the hunt for an internship opportunity. After abundant searching and guidance from Internship Coordinator Hillary Homzie, Herrera came across the perfect position on Handshake, SSU's job search board where students and alumni can apply to various jobs and internship opportunities. After multiple interviews with the company, Herrera was offered the position as the strategic marketing associate at XiO, Inc., and successfully completed her internship during the Fall 2020 semester.
XiO, Inc. is a company based in San Rafael that provides Cloud SCADA Control Systems for remote monitoring and control of mechanical systems for industries such as drinking water, wastewater, agriculture, and irrigation. According to the company’s website, XiO is known for providing safe, real-time monitoring, and control of water systems.
Some of Herrera’s responsibilities at the company include researching specific markets, identifying prospective customers, building contact lists, planning for tradeshows, and designing and delivering integrated marketing campaigns to generate leads.
Herrera expressed how much she has enjoyed learning various things about the industry and how she has gained so many skills through experience that she found very empowering.
“I have gained much experience with multiple programs, such as Adobe InDesign and Acrobat, Salesforce, Google my Business, and Sharepoint,” she said. “My project management, collaboration, and research skills have significantly improved because many of the projects are entirely new to me. I am thrilled with what I have learned and accomplished so far with this internship, and I am excited to see what I will learn in the spring.”
Although the intense internship search process to get her where she is now was filled with discouraging moments, her efforts and hard work were more than worth it. Herrera advises students to not let the fear of rejection and their lack of experience deter them from applying to many open positions.
“When I applied on Handshake for my internship, I was not an exact match with what the employer was looking for,” she said. “However, I could still secure a job. I had applied to hundreds of jobs and internships before receiving this one, and although it was discouraging at times not to hear back from companies, you need to be persistent.”
Herrera also emphasizes how important it is to show the employer your drive and commitment to learning about their industry and processes. Herrera says that her persistence opened up the door to this opportunity as well as all the many resources that are available to all Sonoma State Students.