Sophia Huber: Combining Passions Through Internship

Rhythm, interval, meter and scale are just some of the concepts that show the mathematical underpinnings in music. But for junior Sophia Huber, the relationship between music and numbers is more than just conceptual‑it’s a career plan. And through an internship with Epic Records, Huber is well on her way to putting that plan into action.

A lifelong musician who specializes in piano, guitar, flute and singing, Huber–who is currently working on her B.B.A. in Accounting–completed the internship during the summer term in 2016. The opportunity came about through the guidance of her mentors Scott Dimig ’06, vice president of Top 40 & Dance Promotion at Epic, and Neil Halloran, coordinator of internships for the Robert B. Willumstad School of Business’s Internship and Mentorship Program.

For 90 days, Huber commuted into New York City where she received one-on-one attention from her department’s chief financial officer and finance team. “It taught me a lot of responsibility,” she said. Her work would often appear before the eyes of Epic’s president and vice president of finance and her attention to detail paid off. She has been invited to return next summer and stays in touch with her former co-workers.

“I never thought I’d have the opportunity to do something like that,” Huber said. “If you told me one year ago that I’d be interning at Sony, I’d say, ‘You’re crazy.’”

But Huber’s landing at Epic Records isn’t as farfetched as she suggests. She enrolled at Adelphi to study mathematics but soon changed her major to accounting and became enveloped by campus activities and programs. While serving as the vice president for chapter operations at Delta Sigma Pi and keeping active with Accounting Society, she found time to stop by Halloran’s office to relay her interest in an internship.

“Everyone is always stressed about finding internships,” Huber said. “Just walk into Neil’s office and tell him what you’re interested in, and he’ll rattle off a list of companies that you can apply to. It’s so amazing that he has all that information right there at his fingertips.”

With Halloran’s help, Huber perfected her résumé and acquired many tips covering interview skills and pre- and post-interview practices. The timing couldn’t have been better.

Through her involvement with Delta Sigma Pi, Huber attended a Phi Sigma Kappa alumni panel where Dimig was a scheduled speaker. Huber explained that much of his talk was on the importance of speaking to people with confidence, so she took his advice and approached him after the event.

“I expressed my interest in music and in an internship,” Huber said. Dimig took her résumé and within a couple weeks, she was called for an interview. With Halloran’s and Dimig’s assistance, Huber walked in like a seasoned professional. “I was hired on the spot,” she said. “I walked out of the building and actually pinched myself. I didn’t think it was real,” she said.

Since the launch of the Willumstad School’s Internship and Mentorship Program in March 2014, 778 students have taken advantage of résumé building internships in the New York metropolitan region. Of those internships, 98 percent were paid positions with the 208 participating employers. Huber counts herself as lucky to be among them.

“You have to see every conversation as a networking event,” she said. “You really need a good connection, and that’s what Adelphi does, connects you to people. Experience with the Internship and Mentorship Program and the involvement I’ve had on campus have proven to be so beneficial. There are so many opportunities out there, you just need to know where to find them.”