Coca Cola Internships

I started off the internship by getting to know the company’s background and learning about ALL the brands Coca-Cola owns. It’s A LOT. If you’ve ever taken a look at the Coca Cola website, you’d know. You’d think that with so many brands, some would compete with each other. But Coke has found a way to market each product to a different type of person. It’s genius.

Throughout the summer, I spent some time working on an LA-focused vitaminwater project. Our job was to coordinate and communicate the entire marketing campaign to our sales centers throughout the 14 western states. I spent a lot of time on Excel and PowerPoint making decks outlining the operating plans. I also was in charge of updating the team on our weekly volume/sales numbers to track performance using Nielson and other company reports. It was intense work at times, but I learned a lot of new skills and acquired new ways of thinking about the business.
One thing I was pleasantly surprised to see was that everyone at Coke is incredibly friendly and down-to-earth. My type of people! Before I started, I had this vision of a cold corporate office with little personal interaction. But everyone seems to have a healthy work-life balance and they seem to genuinely enjoy the work they do. Plus, nearly everyone I met at Coke has been with the company for at least 10 years. To me, that really says something about the way they treat their employees – no one ever wants to leave!

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Overall, it was an incredible experience and I would feel so lucky to get the chance to work there after graduation. I’d be set for life. Fingers crossed! For now, I’ve just gotta keep my feelers out there and keep in touch with those I worked with. I know they’ve got my back.

While interning at Coca-Cola Enterprises my major projects were to acquiring new business (which includes restaurants, bars and convenient stores) and maintain existing business by implementing new products and improving the appearance of that retail store within the arena district and short north area of Columbus.

Selling is a great skill to have, but it's a little scary to start.

Push yourself to be out your comfort zone and strive to be extroverted. Trying new job functions and taking part in the selling process gives you needed experience that can not be learned in a text book.

This summer I was part of the creative development for all of Coca-Cola's brands including print, promotional, and brand management programs. Throughout the creative development process I communicated with retailers such as Wal-Mart and Kroger, key national assets such as Live Nation and THE Ohio State University, advertising agencies, and Coca-Cola's legal depatment. One of my favorite projects that I worked on this summer was the Coca-Cola Breast Cancer Awareness program. I coordinated events and developed promotional materials in collaboration with Susan G. Komen for the Cure, the Siteman Cancer Center, and the St. Louis Cardinals in order to raise money for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure Scholarship.

Nothing, this was amazing.

Come prepared to the Coca Cola internship - Knowledge of the company (for the interview and the work), strong background in Microsoft Office (especially Excel and Powerpoint), and good time management and communication skills.

My major project for Coca-Cola was the Vault Assault Sampling Tour. A sampling tour is a program where a team usually consisting of 3 or 4 people sets up a display at a large event, such as a fair, amusement park, major concert or museum, etc., and they then pass out samples of whatever beverage, in this case Vault, that they are trying to promote. My role in this process was similar to that of a manager. I worked directly with the Marketing Managers of whatever city the tour was going through and helped them to schedule locations for the team to go to. I then communicated those locations and dates to the Team Manager and made sure they and all of the clearances and permits necessary to sample.

Sampling can be a grind. Lots of organizational work.

This may sound weird, but the most critical factor that led to my success this summer and will lead to continued success in the future is maturity. I have never had a solid 9-5, Monday-Friday job before, and so I had a lot of growing up to do. I was in a new city with lots to do and see, but I had to realize that I don't have the hours and hours of free time that I was so used to having. I can't go out until 2 in the morning on a weekday because I have to get up and give 100% in the morning.

- Assigned to a project rather than one-off type work.
- Huge dollar amounts make the work more interesting. It's exciting to see the type of scale you are working on.
- I had taken intermediate accounting, but hadn't got to other complex classes. So, this was an eye opening and learning experience for me. My manager was patient and willing to explain concepts until I got them.

I can't think of any. I'm not a huge fan of Atlanta, but the summer there was fantastic.

Apply! Coke is a great place to intern.

I interned at Coca Cola Bottling in Charlotte, NC.
- Able to work my own accounts.
- Real, actual sales experience. Honestly, I was kind of surprise how much responsibility Coke gave me. I appreciated it.
- Really connected with one project where I got to do a little sales strategy work on how best to identify volume opportunities.

On the phone a ton. I wish I got to do more strategy projects.

Great people and the Coca Cola brand recognition on the resume is huge.

- Got a glimpse into the PR world at a huge scale.
- I really connected with the fact that communications at Coca-Cola is very strategic.
- Able to sit in and observe/participate in key organization meetings.
- My boss was awesome and she taught me the ropes of the communications/pr business and how best to break into the field.
- Paid.
- My eyes were opened to the business world like never before.

Atlanta traffic can stink, but that's nothing against Coke!

Network. Get to know somebody in the Coca-Cola department you are interested in, otherwise, it's going to be very difficult to standout in a huge pile.