Internship Chronicles, Chapter 1: Cole Bibart

One spring day, a Student Prince decided to go on a summer adventure. “It won’t be long before I have a career,” the Prince said, “so I’d better start preparing now.” So with some ‘Berg education under their hat, and some connections in their back pocket, the Student Prince began forging their way through an internship.

Thus begins our web series, Internship Chronicles.

Chapter 1: “Learning the Ropes"

Cole Bibart is a human resources intern at Genric Global Security Services. Genric is a private security corporation that oversees different forms of security across the United States and internationally. Cole is a rising senior from Bellefontaine, Ohio. He is majoring in Communication and minoring in Psychology. He is a defensive lineman for Heidelberg’s football team. After graduation, Cole plans to pursue a career in public relations, corporate communication or recruiting. Once he’s had his travels and built his skills in the business sector, Cole wants to bring his expertise in communication to high schools, settling down as a school psychologist or counselor, and football coach.

How did you find your internship, or how did the internship find you?

After graduating high school in 2019, I immediately started security work at Honda in Marysville, Ohio. I worked as a third-shift security guard. This is where I learned about Genric Global Security. After about two years in security, I hopped over to temperature screening during the pandemic. Around that time, I became tired of not pursuing my dreams or figuring out my true purpose. I eventually took a bet on myself, and reached out to the head of operations for Genric, and landed a job within the corporate office as office help. Now, I serve a different role as an intern.

What did you expect from your internship initially?

When I first came into the internship, I wanted to learn more about Human Resources than anything else. But I learned about HR’s work fairly quickly, and so I was placed with some of the recruiters and operation managers instead. I learned that what they were doing was more like me and what I wanted to do with my future. So after evaluating that, I decided to learn all of the different routes, on top of the Human Resource aspects of the business.

What really happens in your day-to-day work?

Currently day-to-day, I help out with HR and electronic filing. I deal with potential employees, have sat in on interviews, and have even done some site orientations. Currently, I am also helping the head of operations with out-of-state contracts.

What connections have you made?

Through this internship, I have learned there are a lot of different things that go into running a business. But as far as connections go, I have expanded my network further than I expected when I began. I have built relationships that will definitely go beyond the workplace.

What is the most valuable thing you’ll bring back to the classroom after this experience?

I believe that the most valuable thing I learned while doing this internship is not to judge a book by its cover – because the cover doesn’t always teach you what's inside the book. I have also learned how to communicate and present better through this experience.

If your internship was a book or a chapter in a book, what should it be titled?

“Learning the Ropes

For more information, visit the Genric Global Security Services website.

To see what Cole is up to, check out his Twitter @bibartcole; or his LinkedIn page.