The Bright Side of Banking

In the last five years the banking industry has given itself a less than stellar image among the general public, myself being one of those who had lost faith. That being said I would have never seen myself working for such an institution; however, for the last five months I have been interning for PNC Bank in Philadelphia. You may be asking yourself, what is an advertising student doing working for a bank? I am happy to introduce you to the bright side of banking.

I work in the Client and Community Relations group, when I say that to people I usually get the same confused expression. To put in terms that make sense we are the image consultants for the bank. Some of our group’s responsibilities include client and employee events, sponsorships, community partnerships, and philanthropic giving. The part of my internship that I enjoy the most is working on PNC’s initiative for early childhood education, Grow Up Great. PNC works extremely hard to give back to the communities they belong to. Jim Rohr the Chairman and CEO of PNC has made early childhood education the axis for which money and volunteerism is donated by the bank.

I have been given incredible amounts of responsibility at my internship, which in turn, has also given me the chance to immerse myself in projects and realize the impact the bank has on the community. Since the initiation of Grow Up Great in 2004, PNC has helped more than 1,500,000 at-risk pre-school age children. Prior to beginning this internship I was entering my senior year sure of what I wanted to do. No longer am I looking to work for an agency as an account manager, I have seen the personal reward of giving back to a community that really needs it. This internship has changed the trajectory of my career and I am so lucky to have found it.