Koch Industries, a multinational conglomerate, operates in industries from oil and chemicals to cattle and electronics and almost everything in between. The experience Koch offers to its interns in Wichita, Kansas is just as diverse and versatile. Josh Haines had the opportunity to work in Koch’s Internal Business Solutions over this last summer.
He first heard about the Koch internship through a coworker at the Business Career Center. She praised the company’s culture and values that align with BYU, as well as a myriad of different employment/learning opportunities there. Once recruiting events began, Josh faithfully attended every Koch information session. He advises new core students to “go into recruiting season with three to five companies you want to know more about and hound them. Take the initiative and go to their events.” Koch takes a very proactive approach in their recruiting effort, making Joshua a good match with his enthusiasm and tenacity.
“Interns are really put to work on things that are valuable to the company.” Thankfully, the IS core provided Josh with the breadth of skills he needed for his everyday tasks at Koch. As a server manager, he added supplementary storage to the company’s internal server and researched new system alerts to keep all of Koch’s businesses running smoothly.
However, with so many different companies under Koch Industries, Josh received many opportunities to learn new skills and jump in on various projects. He quickly learned how to work in Power BI, creating and developing dashboards for numerous Koch companies’ use. “The IS core made me capable of learning quickly and effectively, so I could contribute to the projects.”
His passion for organization and efficiency made Information Systems a good fit. “It bridges the gap between a super business man and a computer scientist! It’s a fantastic mix.”
Aside from working on whatever current project he had, Josh loved going to the drive-in movie theater in Wichita with his wife. They would roll up and park for weekly double features, like Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom and Ocean’s 8.
Josh also enjoys playing in his bluegrass band, Molly in the Mineshaft. He has played with them for five years. His experience as their upright bassist surprisingly helped him in his day-to-day at Koch too. “You’re working with a group as a background artist that builds up the lead.” Interns don’t usually have the most glamorous work, but Josh’s outlook kept his work meaningful every day at Koch.