Virtual Internship Stories: Derin Sezercan

September 12, 2020

Where are you from, where are you currently, and where is your internship?
I am from Istanbul, Turkey. Currently I am at home in Istanbul. My internships are remote and the offices are based in Santiago, Chile.

What is a typical day in your life as an intern? What are your day-to-day duties?
I have two internships in Santiago. One is a research project so I make my own schedule as I conduct the research, I try to meet the deadline provided by Prof. Cifuentes. I work 4 days a week and research on artists 5 hours a day as I prepare my final report due September.

My second internship is at AmCham Chile and I am involved in a few projects at the office. I work 5 days a week and I generate business and investment reports based on sectors. Every day I check new entrepreneurial opportunities that could benefit Chilean and American investors. As a major final project, I am working on creating a sector report based on opinions and feedback of Chilean investors.

What have you learned from this internship?
During the research I conducted, I discovered how to organize and categorize mass data and how to sort useful information. I have discovered practical working schedules and styles for myself which definitely increased my productivity. At AmCham, I have learned tons of stuff regarding international business relations and how to conduct formal meetings with executive level company representatives online. I have been creating sector-based reports thus I was enlightened when I saw how numbers and statistics could be deciphered.

How is it different from a more traditional internship if you have had one? If you haven’t, what is it like being a virtual intern?
It is totally different in practice but in theory what I learn and the skills I develop are pretty much the same. If the world is going to transfer to an online working model then I believe these internships are preparing me to adapt to this new environment. If we are going to return to in person working one day then the skills I gained are pretty much the same. The only different thing from my past internships is the lack of human interaction.

What’s one tip for other virtual interns?
Video calling might not always work, send emails, texts or just make a phone call when you want to ask something! Always be active!

Why did you pick this internship?
My previously planned internship was cancelled due to Covid-19 and I started looking for something I could do this summer from home. Then I found the art research internship via CGC which seemed really interesting although it wasn’t about a topic I was working on, I wanted to discover something new. Then I found about the AmCham Chile opportunity which was extremely similar to my previously cancelled internship. Since I really wanted to get that experience, I picked the AmCham internship in place of my cancelled one.

What do you hope to gain from this internship?
I am hoping to gain sector insights and online working experience since 2021 and the following years are also projected to be “work from home” years. I am also hoping to learn about researching and data analysis as I plan to pursue a career in data analysis for macro-finance.

If you weren’t doing the internship, how would you be spending your summer?
I would have been working on a personal research project on Turkey’s financial status and macroeconomic development.

I play the piano and I am a marbling artist so I was planning to work on those and host my own exhibition with a piano recital.

Where would you travel if you could go anywhere in the world? (ignoring covid concerns)
I really want to see the Northern Lights so I would travel to Norway and Finland.

If you could meet anyone, from past present or future, who would it be?
It would be Hypatia, the mathematician from Alexandria. I am mesmerized by her perseverance and intellect even during those extremely unjust times for women.

What have you been loving in quarantine and would recommend? Books? Podcasts? Music? Movies? TV?
I have indulged my appetite for reading with the classics and I found myself reading Pride and Prejudice the 4th time in 4 months! Also, I would highly recommend reading Herodotus’s Histories and Decameron by Boccaccio for history lovers.

What is your favorite place to be in New York? What do you miss most?
I love going to the MET Museum and wondering around the sculpture section. There I trace the sunlight entering the room, generating the shadows of pieces which have survived for hundreds of years.