Julie Bach ’26, a double major in quantitative economics and data analytics, worked as an Economics and Advertising Business Analytics intern in the Revenue and Operations department of the New York Times. She focused on analyzing revenue data from the business side of the paper, and her team was always on call to pull data derived from advertising placements across the Times’ platforms. The work of her team supported the organization’s journalistic efforts. 

Bach applied data analytics and data science skills during her internship, all while also learning to propose new ideas, meeting with other teams, reevaluating, sometimes feeling lost, and importantly, confirming her passion for data. “It was an interesting experience because I never worked with digital advertising before, and previously felt it wasn’t a fit. I didn’t know about advertising technology, but now I’m in love with it,” she explains.

In fact, Julie’s capstone project, where she applied a grouping technique to better understand the entire client pool of advertisers, was so successful that Julie’s presentation to the Chief Advertising Officer became an offer to extend the internship through fall.

“Managers were surprised at my skills and gave more opportunities to apply them beyond the actual job description. They were open to innovation and creativity. They were interested in actionable goals, not only my data and analytical skills.” Julie continues to work remotely, part-time, alongside her Concierge internship with the Beloit Health System where she focuses on supply chain analytics.”

Exceeding her expectations, the New York City internship opened the door to business analytics and data analytics being career possibilities. These careers share technical skills Bach had but with different stakeholders, which meant a new kind of pressure. “In real life data is not as clean as it is in class. You have to find ways to be sure it’s correct and how to communicate with different audiences, because you can’t show the data query. They just focus on the results.”

The Beloit College Common Grant also played an important role expanding Julie’s focus. After speaking to friends at other schools, Julie realized how unique access to this type of resource is, even for those who attend large schools, and the freedom its reduced financial burden offers. When asked how Beloit College supported her readiness for such an experience, Bach describes how she took classes outside her major which pushed her to move beyond. Specifically, her Impact Beloit Community Connections class pushed her out of her comfort zone. Still, the summer internship showed that she could continue to surprise herself, and that growing from feedback is important. 

Her advisors and jobs on campus prepared her to find where she fit and didn’t fit, a self-awareness she took with her to New York City and her meeting with alumna Shefali Kulkarni ’07, current Editor for Digital Storytelling and Training at “The New York Times.” At a coffee chat, they exchanged updates about all things Beloit then and now. Julie herself was surprised at how strong a connection she felt, even though Kulkarni graduated almost twenty years ago.

Her takeaway? “When I was a freshman, I was different. I didn’t speak up in class. I had focus but was very quiet, and I wasn’t confident in my communication skills.” Now she says, “Don’t underestimate yourself. Be proud of it, sell yourself.”