Internship to Career: Emma Pronko
An internship at Sodexo started a great early career journey for an accounting graduate.
Sodexo is home to more than 400,000 employees – many of whom specialize in catering, facilities management, employee benefits and personal home services in 55 countries around the world. These services would not function efficiently without the behind-the-scenes work of Sodexo’s support teams including the Finance Shared Service employees in Buffalo, N.Y.
The support team in Buffalo resides in a state-of-the-art facility which features modern amenities like high-tech electronics, stand-up desks, wellness rooms and even a chef-run cafeteria. For Emma Pronko, the clean and modern building, and the opportunity for a start to a career at Sodexo are what attracted her to apply for an intern position in 2019. 
“I was originally looking for an internship and I always wanted to work for a large company,” said Emma. “I came across an internship program posting for Sodexo, and I really enjoyed reading the description.”
Emma was hired into the eight-week internship program as she was finishing up her college degree in accounting. She had no idea how big a company Sodexo was, and it wasn’t until she came on site that she realized the how great her potential future was at Sodexo.
“My internship was a great experience. The first thing I noticed right away during my interview was how welcoming everyone was and how they felt to be a part of the team,” she said. “It was surprising to me how people really enjoyed working together here and how welcoming they were to me before I was even hired.”
During the internship, Emma rotated between different departments throughout the program from banking systems to credit cards and so much more. She got a feel for what goes on in the building and how the teams support Sodexo’s businesses. That experience pushed her to find a full-time role within the team.
Shortly after her internship ended, Emma was hired on full-time and now works as an Accountant, working in the credit card and cashless department. She deals with a large number of reconciliation of transactions and what’s being reported takes up a large portion of her day. Even with her main responsibilities, she also has the opportunity to spread her wings and learn about different parts of the job, so she’s never limited in her future opportunities.
The work-life balance that Sodexo offers all employees was another major recruiting factor for Emma to continue her time in the Buffalo office. Knowing how demanding public accounting firms can be and the long hours required, Emma was excited about working for Sodexo instead. She knew that she could get extensive experience on several different businesses without sacrificing her work-life balance.
“Many college seniors are quick to try to jump to the big four accounting firms for internships and entry-level positions, but from what I heard, the culture just doesn't sound anything close to what it is at Sodexo,” said Emma. “Sodexo is always talking about quality of life and especially here in Buffalo. All 300 people in our organization get to work on diverse projects within this massive company without sacrificing any work-life balance.”
Her current department keeps her busy as a valuable member of the team, and she wouldn’t change a thing. She loves what she does every day and knows that if she ever wants a change there is unlimited opportunity in the organization for growth and development. To her, there is a big difference between going to work and loving what you do. She has one piece of advice for anyone looking to join Sodexo.
“It feels cliché to say but working at Sodexo feels like a family. It really does.”