Finding Career Paths Through Richmond Internships
Summer internships provide more than just work experience — they offer a chance to test out career paths, build friendships, and get a taste of professional life. Two business students, Braden Baker and Aaron Freedland, spent their summers close to campus, landing internships in downtown Richmond with roles that provided clarity about their futures.
Baker, a senior accounting major and history minor, interned as an assurance intern with RSM, an accounting firm specializing in middle market perspective. He knew right away that the role would give him exposure across different industries.
“During the interview process, the manager and partner discussed the benefits of interning with a public accounting firm and the hands-on auditing experience available in organizations like RSM,” he said. “They talked about how you gain experience across numerous industries instead of only working on a few big clients a year. That really appealed to me — I wanted to see how auditing looked in different types of companies.”
A typical day was filled with preparing audit documentation, testing journal entries, and even tackling a group project where interns researched an industry and presented findings. The work gave him a chance to apply what he learned in his accounting classes, while also picking up new audit skills.
“I hadn’t taken an audit class yet, so I really learned a lot on the job,” he said. “By the end, I felt like I had a much better understanding of how audits work. It further supported my decision to go into audit after graduation.”
Freedland, a senior business administration major with concentrations in finance and business analytics, spent his summer at McKesson, a leading healthcare company whose medical-surgical hub is headquartered in Richmond. He joined the finance department as a freight pricing analyst, where he worked on client compliance projects to proposed solutions for any discrepancies he identified along with working to standardize the freight code database.
“I was able to really see how freight and pricing work at a company of enormous size,” Freedland shared. “I used Excel every single day and even got to apply my SQL skills to help with database analysis, which was really exciting. My work relational data tables helped me while I was teaching myself SQL before my internship and enabled me to do some really cool things when I actually got on the job.”
Both students said the professional environment stood out just as much as the work. Freedland noted the welcoming and supportive tea. “From my very first day, everyone encouraged me to ask questions,” he said. “I realized that asking questions doesn’t hurt you — it makes you more well-rounded and shows you’re engaged.”
Baker agreed, emphasizing that attitude is just as important as technical skills. “My advice is to always be proactive in asking for work and to keep a positive attitude,” he said. “Internships are basically a working interview, and people want to work with someone who’s positive.”
Outside the office, both found Richmond to be a fun place to spend the summer. Baker enjoyed being close to home, while Freedland spent evenings exploring the city with friends and fellow interns, including McKesson-hosted area events.
By the end of their summers, both students had a clearer idea of what they wanted to do next. Baker accepted a return offer with RSM and will begin full-time after graduation. Freedland hopes to find a career that blends finance, coding, and problem-solving — and says McKesson is a place he could see himself returning to.
For these two Spiders, internships in Richmond provided not just work experience, but also friendships, confidence, and clarity about where their careers might lead.