How She Got That Internship: Isabelle’s Internship At John Deere

Image Credits: All images courtesy of Isabelle Ausdal

How She Got That Internship is a series that highlights conservative women’s internships in various organizations and positions to inspire the next generation of conservative women to lead. Did you, or a young woman that you know, have an internship experience you want to share with our readers? Submit it in this form and we will contact you if we think it would be a great fit for the series. 

Summer is perhaps the best time for young leaders to invest in themselves by gaining valuable work experience, namely through internships. FFL is sitting down with a number interns to reflect on this year’s highlights and encourage more young leaders to apply for next year’s internships.

Isabelle grew up in Milan, Illinois on a small agricultural operation raising sheep with her family. She was very involved in student government and FFA while in high school and knew that she wanted to find a career that married agriculture and government. After graduating from Sherrard High School, Isabelle moved to Champaign-Urbana to attend the University of Illinois (UIUC) and joined an agricultural sorority. She went on to run a campaign and became a student senator for the College of ACES, served as chair of recruitment for ACES, and had the honor of being on the Homecoming Court for the University of Illinois as a whole. Now, Isabelle lives in the Washington, D.C. metro area and works as a policy intern for an agricultural non-profit and is preparing to take her LSAT and apply to law school.

How did you find out about the position, and why did you decide to apply?

I found out about the internship position through the career fair at AFA’s (Agriculture Future of America’s) annual leadership conference. I’d had my eyes on working for John Deere for a while so when I was selected to attend, I knew it would be the best time to apply and give it a shot.

What was the driving force behind choosing to work as an intern for John Deere?

I had 3 internship offers my junior year, including John Deere. I ultimately chose them because, coming from the Quad Cities, IL, home of the World Headquarters for John Deere, I grew up with them being the main employer in my blue-collar town. Being hired into their corporate division was seen as a huge accomplishment and I chased that. Deere also recruits heavily from the University of Illinois, where I attended school, and they had a reputation for an amazing internship program, benefits, and opportunities to travel and full-time employment. All of what they offered was exactly what I was looking for so I accepted and moved to Lenexa, Kansas for the summer.

Had you interned before? If so, where?

This was my first big corporate internship, but I had previous intern experiences as a lead intern for a local State Representative candidate, crop physiology lab assistant for my University, law clerk for a patent law firm, and assistant to the Dean of the UIUC College of ACES.

Describe a typical day at your internship.

One of the things I liked most about my internship was no day was the same. I was assigned two main projects. Most of my days were spent working on either one. I spent many days on the phone with John Deere equipment dealers in target areas in the US and Canada for a new European baler Deere was looking to introduce to North America in the next few years. I also spent time corresponding back and forth with the John Deere factory in France where I was able to use my foreign language skills to email back completely in French! Other days I spent traveling to different states for various training events and photo/videos shoots for Deere products that were still top-secret. It was really interesting to see the marketing process from start to finish and all the components that go into the final product.

What has been the most rewarding aspect of working for John Deere?

I found that working with Dealers and farmers who purchased John Deere products was most rewarding. I enjoyed the social aspect of meeting people outside of our marketing center and spending time getting to know their stories, wants, and needs. It helped me see how important personal relationships are in both business and personal life.

What was the biggest WOW moment of your internship?

Getting to lead the final phone calls with France and Mexico were by far the coolest moments of my internship. It really hit home that what I had been working on all summer was valuable and was actually going to be utilized after I was gone.

Looking back over your time in the internship, what’s been the most valuable lesson you’ve learned as a result of your time working for John Deere?

The most valuable lesson I learned is that it’s very good, I may even say necessary, to get out of your field of study in school and try something new. I majored in agricultural economics with a focus in public policy and law but to everyones surprise, took a marketing internship. Employers like that I have diversified my resume and I learned very valuable skills I wouldn’t have gotten from other governmental/policy-related internships.

Would you apply to work at John Deere again, and what advice would you give to future applicants?

Prepare, prepare, prepare! Some companies have a specific format for interviews and John Deere uses the STAR approach. I wish I had prepared more for formally structured interviews rather than assuming it would be the same as all the others I’ve done in the past.

Anything else you’d like to share?

The most important thing about taking an internship is remembering it’s an opportunity to get a taste of what a company culture, industry, or career field is like. Don’t stress about whether or not you get a job offer to stay in that career path for the long term. Sometimes you learn what you don’t want to do which is just as valuable as finding out what you do!

How She Got That Internship is a series that highlights conservative women’s internships in various organizations and positions to inspire the next generation of conservative women to lead. Did you, or a young woman that you know, have an internship experience you want to share with our readers? Submit it in this form and we will contact you if we think it would be a great fit for the series.