UNIVERSITY PARK, Pa. — Sarah Stein, a fourth-year student triple majoring in psychology, criminology and labor and human resources at Penn State, spent the summer applying her studies to an internship with Amazon near her hometown of Bensalem, Pennsylvania.
As an Amazon workplace health and safety specialist intern, Stein worked in a delivery center with the safety and human resources team. There, she monitored employee behavior, conducted daily safety audits, ensured protocol compliance and managed incident reports.
Stein’s experience was made possible with support from the Virginia Todd Chapel Executive Internship Program in the College of the Liberal Arts, which provides $5,000 to students completing top-level career development opportunities in the private sector.
Stein received an additional $1,000 from the Paterno Fellows Program, all of which helped her focus her time solely on her internship experience without stressing over the costs of living.
“It really helped me to not have to worry about living expenses while at my internship.” Stein said. “That has been really nice about the College of the Liberal Arts. I haven't heard of any of my friends getting that kind of experience or getting that enrichment funding in other colleges.”
Stein was able to directly apply the skills she learned in her LHR 429: Conducting Workplace Investigations course, gaining valuable hands-on experience in the process. The internship provided her with practical insights and real-world applications of the human resources theories and concepts she studied in her coursework.
“I was able to really see the culture at Amazon, too, which I thought was really helpful,” said Stein when reflecting on her experience. “I think interning somewhere helps you understand what you like and what you don't like in a company. What I learned from this experience was culture is big to me. I want a company that has a really healthy culture, really healthy work environment and is very team-oriented.”
Stein’s summer internship project focused on safety sentiment among workers and implementing monthly meetings between workers and leadership to improve communication and address training needs. Through this process, Stein said, she was able to help make a greater impact on the culture of the company, lessening the disconnect between each tier of employees.