Delvin Hamidjaja

Despite the disruption caused by the coronavirus pandemic, CSUF marketing senior Delvin Hamidjaja ’21 completed a career-changing internship and capstone project at Kellogg’s in 2020.

While safety protocols have altered how students conduct their internships, Hamidjaja’s path was paved through the support of Career Services at the College of Business and Economics, the Center for Internships and Community Engagement (CICE) and university Risk Management, who ensured that despite university policy only allowing virtual internships, Hamidjaja would have this opportunity, which included shadowing sales representatives in the field, safely and effectively.

“CICE and Risk Management work very closely with employers to make sure that all internships are safe for our students. In this unusual case, it was a concerted and collaborative effort between all parties to take the approval process step by step up the chain of command, working with Kellogg on safe practices, and ultimately ensuring that Devlin was able to complete and get credit for his internship,” says Kate Guerrero, career services director, of the unique arrangement.

Hamidjaja’s journey to a Kellogg’s internship began with the Sales Leadership Center, where he connected with a Kellogg’s representative at one of the center’s many networking events and landed the internship.

Initially planning to work at Kellogg headquarters in Battle Creek, Michigan, a hybrid remote work and sales shadowing format was developed during the pandemic. A capstone project, which helps interns flex their marketing skills, involved leading a team to design and develop Cheez-It Popified, a new product concept, based on observation of changes in consumer shopping habits due to COVID-19.

“His recommendations were so compelling that Devlin actually presented his capstone project one-on-one to our senior vice president of sales,” says Ted Nelson, Kellogg’s senior manager of retail strategy. “As far as I’m aware, it was the first time an intern has presented person-to-person to a VP.”

Looking ahead, Hamidjaja is planning to use his Kellogg’s experience to help pursue a master’s degree and be a business leader himself.

Read more about Hamidjaja’s experience, and CSUF’s commitment to ensuring that safe and effective internship opportunities are available to students despite the pandemic, in this CSUF News article.