by Joe Minnich
Getting a foot in the door can be a hard thing to accomplish, especially when you are a recent college graduate with little work experience in the industry you want to get into. While searching for a job I was lucky enough to be given a chance to be an intern at the Upper Deck Company. Upper Deck is a company I have always wanted to be a part of since I was a child collecting baseball and football cards. Upper Deck currently focuses on NHL® cards now and Marvel® Comics cards/games, which is something I have a huge passion for.
It was so neat to walk around the halls of Upper Deck seeing all the cool things they do here. Sitting in the office and hear someone say “Hello Mr. Gretzky! How are you doing today?” is surreal and exciting. To get excited about what you are working on is something I hope I get the opportunity to do with my future work place. I worked in the Marketing Department where I did a variety of things from sorting signed items by players I was watching on TV last night, to making videos for their social media sites, to cutting signage for an upcoming event (although I never got the hang of that). I did a variety of things to help out around the office to make the employees jobs here just a little easier.
One of my favorite things I got to do was develop graphics for the website or a Facebook graphic. It was also extremely helpful for me because Upper Deck has a whole Graphic Design team. It was a great opportunity to learn from another designer what is good and what needs to be tweaked. It was a great learning experience for me to have a professional designer look at my work and give me valuable advice that I may not receive outside of here. The best part too is they really wanted to help in my growth as a professional.
Joe applied his experience in theater and “elfing” to help out Santa Cardman during the UD Holiday party!
The timing of my internship fell right around the holidays which was great because I got to experience all the fun holiday events they do here at Upper Deck. From the Holiday Party to end of the year company meetings it was great to see how Upper Deck really takes care of their staff and make them happy in a work environment. It is working because the staff I got to work with (Bre, Brittany, Chris, Melanie, Scott and Drew) are happy, genuine great people to work with.
From day one I never felt uptight as the intern or treated like as if I was beneath anyone. They made me feel welcomed from day one and made me feel at ease. From giving me a nickname, “Joe the Show,” in my first week to joking around with me, and letting me joke with them (especially about Brittany’s Patriots), I truly felt that my time here at Upper Deck was not only an opportunity to gain real work experience but also develop friendships with the people here at Upper Deck. It was truly a great experience and I hope to come back one day as an employee if the opportunity presents itself.
Joe and his Marketing Team members, Brittany & Bre- and of course Santa Cardman!
If you are currently enrolled in college and are interested in an internship opportunity with Upper Deck, please email your resume to [email protected] along with information on your availability. We are always looking to bring on a few good interns to help with new products and programs!
