Northwestern Mutual-Chicago Celebrates 10-Year Partnership with Chicago Semester
Northwestern Mutual-Chicago and Chicago Semester have embraced a ten-year collaboration that provides college students the opportunity to grow through hands-on work experience in an urban environment.
Since 2011 students have interned with the financial planning firm's operations and administration departments as part of the client relations center, human resources, training and marketing teams. In 2017, Chicago Semester honored Northwestern Mutual-Chicago with the Excellence in Supervision Award.
"Northwestern Mutual has been a solid partner with us over the years," said Dr. Rebecca Burwell, a faculty member at Chicago Semester and Trinity Christian College. "They share our vision to care about students coming into themselves and becoming confident about who they are as they work to develop their emotional, social, intellectual, and spiritual gifts."
Chicago Semester is an experience-based academic program that provides undergraduate college students the opportunity to gain professional experience in the big city. Through an internship for credit in their field of study, classes that engage the city as their campus, and housing in the heart of the city, students are inspired and challenged to grow professionally, academically and personally.
"Chicago Semester provides enthusiastic students who are prepared to hit the ground running on the first day," said Krystle Reniguntala, associate director of client relations at Northwestern Mutual-Chicago, who oversees the program. "For many students, it's their first time in a professional work setting, so I always encourage them to be a sponge and soak up as much as they can."
Beginning her internship right before a pandemic, Krista Graverson interned in the firm's marketing, human resources and operations departments while a senior at Hope College.
"I grew as a person, and my confidence grew in a culture that was welcoming and wanted to see me succeed," she said. Bypassing the challenges and limitations of the global pandemic, she was offered a full-time position as a centralized insurance services associate upon graduation in June 2020.
In addition to Chicago Semester, Northwestern Mutual-Chicago provides internships through its partnership with Greenwood Project, which aims to introduce underserved, diverse students to careers in financial services. The company also offers a nationally recognized financial representative internship program named by Vault.com, a top internship for career development and best financial services internship.