Attention: All Associates

Human Resources intern, Katie MacElwee, recently caught up with our summer interns before they headed back to school to find out about their time at Essex and their future plans. Here's what they had to say:

Leslie Lozano - Leslie is currently a student at Sonoma State University. She is majoring in Business Administration Management with a minor in Spanish. This summer Leslie worked as a Summer Leasing Associate in the SFO region. One of Leslie’s favorite experiences was working in Resident Relations at Epic where she planned a resident event called “Coco Fiesta” which featured the Pixar movie “Coco” and a catered meal. Her event was a hit! One of Leslie’s biggest takeaways from this internship is everything it takes to run a property. She had little knowledge of the property management world before she started and can now see herself pursuing a career in our industry.

Diksha Jagga - Diksha recently graduated from San Jose State University with a degree in Corporate Finance. This summer she interned in the Operational Services Department at the San Mateo office. Diksha’s primary role was to visit Essex communities to collect data to create efficient processes for the onsite teams. Diksha has a new-found appreciation for supporting roles and how they play a part in the bigger picture stating that, “ultimately, it takes the entire team to be successful." Diksha enjoyed her time at Essex and reports that working with the team was truly a positive learning experience.

Jonathan Stephenson and Ethan Munsil - Both Jonathan and Ethan worked as Summer Associates in the Legal Department at the San Mateo office. Jonathan is currently attending Santa Clara University Law School, and Ethan is attending the University of Michigan Law School. Before their internship started, Jonathan had a defined view of how his career would unfold. Since working with the Legal team, he realizes that there are many more options for him to consider, including a focus on real estate. Similarly, Ethan also expressed interest in pursuing a career in real estate. Jonathan and Ethan enjoyed their legal assignments and found it enlightening to finally work on tasks they had previously only learned about in school. They report that their time with Essex was a meaningful experience.

Austin Neri and Jonah Buchwald - Austin and Jonah worked as Summer Associates for the Ancillary Income department at the San Mateo office. Austin will soon be attending New York University to earn his Master’s degree in Real Estate Development. This internship confirmed for Austin that he is on the right path and is following an industry for which he has passion. He described Essex associates as hardworking, fun to work with, and very friendly. Jonah is attending Tulane University to study Finance. Jonah worked on various projects that gave him practical, real-world experience.  He praised his coworkers for the support and guidance they provided him during the internship.

Katie MacElwee - Katie currently attends San Diego State University and is majoring in Psychology. She was the Summer Associate for Human Resources in the Irvine office. Katie worked in most of the functional areas of the Human Resources Department including Leave of Absence processing, Benefits, Compensation, Associate Relations, and Recruiting. Katie shares, "My favorite experience was in Associate Relations and attending onsite meetings. Recruiting was also great as I was able to assist with interviewing potential candidates and with marketing materials for hiring events. This has been an incredible learning opportunity, and I have loved working for Essex this summer." She continues, "The Essex internship program is an amazing learning opportunity for all our interns. The knowledge they’ve gained in their respective departments over the 8-week program has been priceless. Each intern had an opportunity to learn hands-on and was exposed to how a large organization successfully operates. Thank you, Essex for providing such a wonderful opportunity!"

Learn More About Essex Internships

The Essex summer internship program is led by Recruiting Manager, Arlene Morimoto.

For more information, questions, or to nominate a student as an Essex intern for next summer, please e-mail Arlene Morimoto at amorimoto@essex.com.