The environment and so many opportunities to learn. Keathley Patterson invests so much into their interns. The environment is fun and casual. They want you to succeed and give you the resources to do so if you take advantage of them. You have to be motivated and hard working to be successful here. It’s a rotational internship program so you get to see all aspects of the business. I had a summer internship trip where I got to meet other people interning and visit other profit centers.
What I wish was different
I wish I had focused more on sales and meeting with customers earlier on in my internship. It can be intimidating at first but talking to customers is the fastest way to learn.
Advice
Be willing to learn. While it’s not required to have any technical knowledge, this is an electrical distributor and knowing more about the product makes you a bigger asset. Take advantage of all opportunities. KP encourages independence and initiative. If you want to do something or try something new, make it happen. Don’t wait around for someone to tell you what or how to do something.
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Intern
June 2017 • Merrillville, IN
What I liked
The internship introduced me to the world of business. Wanting a future in Sales Engineering, the role showed me how to successfully interact with customers to give them great service, along with developing sales and management skills I will use forever.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Inside Sales
December 2017 • Little Rock, AR
What I liked
I love Keathley Patterson in general. I met my current boss in the UA Little Rock College of Business, where he was tabling, and struck up a conversation. I just hit the two year mark with the company. I've been sent to Milwaukee, WI twice, Las Vegas, NV, Minneapolis, MN, Boston, MA and several places in Arkansas for training. The company isn't afraid to invest in us employees and make sure we have the knowledge to take care of customers. We do profit sharing, which is essentially a bonus check based on our total sales at our location, once a year in February/March. The environment is fairly laid back and we have a good dynamic between employees and the manager.
What I wish was different
Advice
Sales in our market tends to be fast paced, especially in the industrial sales area, where a customer with a machine down may be losing thousands of dollars every hour. The more organized you are, the easier it will be. Get good at checking email, be responsive, be engaging, and you will do just fine in similar roles.
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Warehouse Manager
January 2017 • Flagstaff, AZ
What I liked
It is a good job that was willing to work with my school schedule.
What I wish was different
Better pay is always a plus but I like the people I work with and it is a chill work environment.
Advice
None
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Business Management
May 2021 • Dover, NH
What I liked
I enjoyed being able to see all aspects of managing a profit center location, from the ground up.
What I wish was different
I wish that I had more outside sales experience, as I want to see if this is something I am good at.
Advice
One piece of advice I would share is be prepared and ready to learn, as you have to be willing to learn about the electrical industry as I did.
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Intern
May - August 2021 • South Bend, IN
What I liked
What I wish was different
Advice
Show up early. Leave when the job is done.
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Inside Sales and Delivery
August 2019 • Vernal, UT
What I liked
CED is a great place to grow if you want a future in business and knowledge in the electrical field. I have enjoyed the atmosphere, work schedule and opportunities to gain useful electrical knowledge. During the summer, I was able to start my day early with deliveries and get off work by 5 without having to work weekends, which was fantastic.
What I wish was different
I wish I knew more about the electrical field. The best cure for that problem is to learn as much as I can on the job.
Advice
Be humble enough to learn.
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Business Operations Intern
May - August 2019 • Denver, CO
What I liked
Good work culture, a lot of learning
What I wish was different
Higher pay
Advice
Hard work pays off
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Intern
May - August 2019 • Tempe, AZ
What I liked
Very nice people to work alongside everyday. All motivated people willing to lend a hand.
What I wish was different
Advice
Be ready to mess up and learn from it.
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Division Intern
June - September 2018 • Los Angeles, CA
What I liked
The focus was always on what I wanted to learn. My superiors always asked me what I was interested in rather than what they wanted me to learn. As such, I found the internship very enjoyable and rewarding.
What I wish was different
Advice
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Intern
May - August 2019 • Dallas, TX
What I liked
The people are one of the things that makes CED a great place to work for. The pre-employment testing ensures that everyone is driven, intelligent, and a joy to work with. The rotational aspect of the internship provided me with a perspective of the company that not many people get with other internships. I also got to travel to Denver, Colorado, and to other locations within our district. 10/10 Internship
What I wish was different
I was exposed to every department at my location. This provided a broad overview of the entire operation, which was very enlightening. However, since my internship was only 12 weeks, it was difficult to get as in-depth as I would have liked on certain subjects.
Advice
Work hard, ask questions, and get to know everyone at your profit center. I had an amazing experience, and I am excited to start back up after graduation.
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Intern
June 2018 • San Luis Obispo, CA
What I liked
I loved the ability to travel to conventions and to job sites. I also had a lot of freedom to choose improvement projects to implement during my time here. All of my coworkers were extremely knowledgeable and experienced.
What I wish was different
Nothing I can think of.
Advice
Be open to constantly changing work environments. Everyday is different.
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Warehouse worker
June 2019 • Ruston, LA
What I liked
Employer is very flexible with hours since I am in college
What I wish was different
Nothing
Advice
Pay close attention to detail and be through
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Management intern
May - August 2019 • Pueblo, CO
What I liked
Got a great sense of how they operate their business and worked with great people with a great company culture
What I wish was different
Intern program still in early stages. First year that they offered a highly organized internship experience
Advice
Great company, fast paced working environment with a fair amount of manual labor
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Intern
May 2018 • Scottsdale, AZ
What I liked
Hands on experience that impacted the business immediately
What I wish was different
Number of interns. Fewer interns would have made it more personal
Advice
Come in with an open mind because the electrical industry is probably something you’ve never considered as a career opportunity
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Shipping/Receiving
June - August 2018 • Salt Lake City, UT
What I liked
I loved the people and the atmosphere. It's a wonderful place to work with wonderful co-workers.
What I wish was different
I wish I could've worked with more teams. I did a lot of work alone. I want some teamwork experience.
Advice
Learn how to stay organized, stay on time, be aware of your surroundings, and communicate.
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Sales/Management Intern
May - August 2018 • South Bend, IN
What I liked
I loved working in each department of the business. I spent a few weeks in each including sales, logistics, projects, purchasing etc. This internship this summer with CED taught me more about working in and managing a business than I could learn from 4 years in a classroom. I also got to spend a lot of time getting to know my fellow interns. We became really good friends this summer and I will miss them.
What I wish was different
The only thing I was I had done differently is arrange my housing earlier than I did. I procrastinated until 3 weeks before my internship started to find an apartment. At that point the only thing that was available was wicked expensive, but there was nothing I could do but pay it.
Advice
The advice I have for students doing internships is: don't be afraid to speak up and try new things. Figure out what that company is doing "wrong" and tell the boss your ideas for improvements. This will show them that you are interested in improving the company and that you are paying attention to important things.
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Management intern
June - August 2018 • Pewaukee, WI
What I liked
It was a great way to see many different aspects of a functioning office and be apart of many different departments.
What I wish was different
The actual product was a bit boring.
Advice
Do it and he active. Look for new things to do and ask people to help them if you finish your work.
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Management Training Intern
May - August 2020 • Springville, UT
What I liked
CED went to great efforts to keep the internship experience despite the turmoil in the world surrounding coronavirus. The internship gives you opportunities to experience each part of the business. It gives you a solid foundation in the industry and a solid foundation for potentially working full time in the electrical supply space. The coworkers I had were fantastic and provided a ton of support as I was learning.
What I wish was different
Sometimes being rotated through so many different positions in such a short amount of time is stressful because you are required to learn so much information so quickly.
Advice
Most of what you learn is very industry specific, so consider if this is the industry you want to get into. If it's an industry that you find interesting, this company is the best in the business.
