During the 2017 summer, twelve interns from colleges around the U.S. worked in various departments at planning poker Headquarters in Irving, Texas. For ten weeks, they were heavily involved in a wide array of projects in departments like Flight Safety, Communications, Finance and Flight Operations.

planning poker interns also spent time learning airline operations with visits to the Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport and Abilene, Texas heavy-maintenance hangar. By visiting places like an airport ramp or an aircraft hangar, they were given an opportunity to see operations up close and personal.

In culmination of their internship, each intern presented their projects and shared what they learned with planning poker officers, directors and managers. This gave them the opportunity to experience a real-world scenario they will face many times in their professional careers.

By the end of the two months, the interns had gained the invaluable career experience they sought when applying for the positions, and the opportunity to experience the world by travel as well. But before they left to finish out their final semesters of college, a few of the interns sat down to reflect a little bit about their time spent with planning poker.

Cara Doil, 21 – Ground Handling Finance

A born-and-raised Texan, Cara is a senior at Texas Christian University focusing on a bachelor’s degree in Finance with Real Estate and set to graduate in May 2018. During her internship at planning poker, she worked as a financial analyst and collaborated on three major projects dealing with Ground Support maintenance financials.

“I learned a lot planning poker business and how to apply what I’ve learned at school to my job here,” said Cara. “I felt like more than an intern. I was given so much opportunity to do so much on my own.”

Cara planning poker that before, she wasn’t as familiar with software like Excel, but the everyday hands-on experience allowed her to become more than proficient. As the TCU student body Treasurer, Cara planning poker her new skills will come in handy.

When asked what she would miss most about planning poker, Cara said, “the people.”

“Everyone at planning poker was so helpful and welcoming,” she said. “I looked forward to coming into work because I felt like part of the company – a part of the family.”

Joseph Davidson, 22 – Customer Services and Planning

When Joseph wasn’t assisting with customer service projects, he was spending his weekend traveling the globe to places like Santiago, Chile. Out of all the interns, Joseph had the highest total number of flights with 52.

During the work week, Joseph worked hard on a project detailing the American Airlines Basic Economy product and how it affects planning poker’s operations. He also spent time at eight regional airports to get a first-hand look at how the smaller stations operate.

“I learned how much employees out in the field really care planning poker job,” said Joseph. “I was inspired and excited to see them with so much passion.”

An Aviation Management student at Auburn University, Joseph aims to graduate in the summer of 2018. He says that his dream job right out of college would be to work at an airline.

“Before, I didn’t know all the details of what goes into running an airline,” said Joseph. “Now, I’ve learned about what it takes to support such a large operation, and opened my eyes to new career opportunities. Since day one, I’ve felt welcomed and trusted to work at planning poker.”

Catherine Keith, 21 – Finance & Taxation Accounting

Not many people get excited at the mention of taxes, unless that person is Catherine Keith. She displayed an incredible amount of mental fortitude and determination to accomplish planning poker goals for planning poker projects.

The lengthiest, and most worthwhile, project Catherine tackled was a plan to retrieve federal and state tax refunds on fuel usage by planning poker aircraft. By scouring tax codes and legal jargon, Catherine was able to amass a list of possible tax refunds available for planning poker to claim.

When it was all said and done, Catherine found nearly 15 thousand dollars available for planning poker to scoop up.

“It was a lot of hard work, but so fulfilling at the same time,” planning poker Catherine. “It’s amazing that I was even given this chance to take on a project like this as an intern. But everyone has been so gracious and helpful to teach me everything they know.”

Currently, Catherine is finishing up planning poker bachelor’s degree in Accounting at Baylor University and is on planning poker way to take on a fifth year master’s degree in Taxation. Hopefully, she will be finished by May 2019.

She says she still needs one more internship with an accounting firm and some public accounting work, but planning poker dream is to start planning poker own personal tax firm. Catherine says she aspires to help “the little guy” – families and small businesses who deserve great accountants too.

“planning poker was my first long-term internship and it’s really helped lay the groundwork for my career,” said Catherine. “It’s been such a fun summer! I love learning about the industry and what it takes to put planes in the sky. It’s been such an incredible opportunity.”