Six interns, one amazing summer

In May, six interns walked into Chesapeake Bank nervous but excited for the opportunities ahead of us. We had applied for, prepared for, and interviewed with our different departments and were ready to learn. If you asked any of us, we would tell you we love the bank. Each of us knew Chesapeake Bank was community-oriented, but throughout the summer, we got to see what that really means.

I learned so much about the scope of what marketing does. I came up with social media captions, created social media contests, worked on different projects, attended interesting meetings, populated content into a new website, and much more. Overall, my favorite part of the summer was definitely coming each day, and working with four amazing people. They each had different talents and areas of expertise that I was able to observe and learn from over the weeks. No two days were ever the same.

While I worked with marketing, Zac, a returning intern, spent his summer traveling throughout different departments as the banking intern. One of the bank's specialty lines of business is Chesapeake Wealth Management. Prior to the internship, Zac thought investments sounded pretty cool and was interested in learning more about them. When he rotated through wealth management, he got to ask the questions he had and hear more about this area of interest.

Andrew S., another returning intern, continues to have his expectations exceeded when it comes to working with the bank. He was the banking intern last year and returned as the audit and compliance intern. The culture of Chesapeake Bank is like no other. Interning here allowed Andrew to experience that, and he would even tell you how much his department feels like a group of friends.

The other Andrew, Andrew T., the CPS finance intern, expected to be doing many intern-like tasks. He was completely blown away (in a good way). His team took him under their wing and gave him the ability to learn so much about what Chesapeake Payment Systems, our merchant services department, is and how to be a part of Chesapeake Bank. 

Denzel, the deposit operation intern, expected to spend his summer on the teller line. He was pleasantly surprised to learn he was actually working in the back office with a team devoted to ensuring the deposit process runs smoothly. He enjoyed talking to coworkers about different banking regulations and how they impact smaller banks.

Tan, the lending operations intern, was interested in community banking and how smaller banks operate, as he is from Thailand, where community banking is nonexistent. Throughout the summer, he was able to learn not only about lending operations, but also about the markets the bank serves, the values that drive the success of Chesapeake, and how community banks compete with larger banks.

When internship completion dates were nearing, I led an intern call where each intern expressed their biggest takeaways from the summer. Andrew S. enjoyed participating in team-building activities with his department. Tan got a call from Jeff, the CEO, on his birthday. Denzel enjoyed attending Virginia Bankers Association intern meetups throughout the summer to dive deeper into the banking industry overall.

Andrew T. sat in high-level meetings, allowing him to experience what it means to be a part of the bank. Zac enjoyed attending the summer party and seeing how bank comes together as one big group of friends. As for me, I really enjoyed the daily humor and entertainment within the marketing team. I couldn’t have asked for a better group to work with, as they made each day enjoyable. Together, the interns also did an escape room, and managed to escape! We are all in agreement that working at the bank is an unbeatable experience. Chesapeake truly is a great place to work.

If you’re considering interning at Chesapeake Bank, I would highly recommend it. My advice to you would be to relax. We were all nervous, but everyone at the bank was very welcoming and made us feel at home. It isn’t a competitive, cut-throat environment, and you won’t just be a number. Ask questions. Ask as many as you can.

Everyone wants to help you and wants you to learn. They’ll even feed you a lot of good food along the way, as Denzel would let you know! If you want to have an amazing summer while gaining experience in an environment that doesn’t feel like a dreaded job, intern with Chesapeake! — by Claire Bunting Smith