Rutgers-Camden Graduate’s Internship Leads to Full-Time Job with Kellogg’s

CAMDEN — Not everyone gets to call Tony the Tiger a colleague. Dan Walsh, a marketing major at Rutgers–Camden graduating May 17, makes sure Frosted Flakes and other Kellogg’s products are fully stocked and looking “Grreat” in area grocery stores.

If you’ve recently walked into an area grocery store and noticed shelves fully stocked with Kellogg’s products, chances are Walsh had already come through to make sure every box was properly placed and ready to be purchased by customers.  He has turned a successful internship at the Kellogg’s Company into a career.

The Bellmawr resident is now a retail sales representative for Kellogg’s eastern regional office in Horsham, Pa. It’s a job that grew out of a summer internship he had last year.

During his internship, Walsh’s job was to make sure the company was represented with well-stocked products in all of the stores that carry the food giant’s cereals, crackers, waffles, and other products. As a full-time employee, he concentrates on upselling products like pop tarts and cereal.

“Interning was very beneficial to me in that it gave me a lot of experience outside the classroom,” Walsh says.

Walsh, a 2008 Gloucester Catholic High School graduate, was one of about 30 interns chosen from a nationwide pool of candidates who completed an online application. Those interns worked at Kellogg’s locations across the country and Walsh was the only one charged with handling sales and marketing efforts in New Jersey and parts of Philadelphia.  

Internships are an essential part of students’ educational experience at Rutgers–Camden. They give students the opportunity to apply classroom learning to the workplace, expand professional skills, and even earn academic credit. As in Walsh’s case, they can also lead to a full-time job.

“I’ve learned that the food industry is challenging,” Walsh says. “You’re competing with so many other food companies. It’s all about placement and getting as much exposure in the store as you can get. You have to keep a good relationship with the stores.”

Walsh says his experience at the Rutgers School of Business–Camden has provided him with the skills necessary to succeed at his internship.

“Rutgers–Camden really provided me with the backbone of what I do and gave me a lot of marketing experience before getting into the industry,” he says. “It’s taught me how to think critically about marketing issues.”

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