At Soucy, we believe in the next generation. That's why we're proud to welcome dozens of interns every year. For us, they're not just interns, they’re employees in their own right.
In honour of International Interns’ Day, we'd like to share the story of Laurie Mongeau, an employee who started her career as an intern at Soucy.
Interview with Laurie Mongeau, HR Advisor
Laurie has been a human resources advisor for our Soucy Techno subsidiary since August 2022 and is responsible for skills development and training. Prior to her permanent full-time position, she worked as an intern and part-time employee for our organization.
A career like no other
If we could describe Laurie's career path in a single word, it would be "atypical". Laurie started out as an intern in May 2020. She did her first undergraduate internship in human resources at Soucy Techno (Sherbrooke). At the end of her internship, her HR manager, Sophie Kupel, offered her a part-time position as an HR advisor for the full duration of her studies. Laurie agreed to take on the challenge! She even chose to complete her other two university internships with us.
What do you take away from your internships at Soucy?
"What I liked about my three internships at Soucy was the relationship of trust I built and how my skills improved. My director Sophie gave me a lot of projects, and she always tried to adapt to my needs. She'd ask me what classes I'd be taking in my next session, and then she'd give me tasks related to what I was learning. It was an incredibly enriching experience! I was able to apply what I was learning at university at work and vice versa. Soucy showed a lot of openness in the way they adapted the position to my needs."
How would you describe your integration and your relationship with your team?
"When I arrived, I was 19. Being young and an intern, I was worried that people wouldn’t see what I could bring to the team. In the end, I never felt that way at Soucy. I always felt that I was an employee in my own right, even when I was an intern or a part-time employee. My colleagues always referred to me as Laurie, the HR advisor. Employees always saw fit to seek my advice despite the fact that other people had more experience, and that was very rewarding."
Would you recommend others to do three internships at the same place?
"When I mentioned to people around me that I wanted to do my three internships at the same place, they asked me if I was afraid of shooting myself in the foot. On the contrary, the fact that I had spent two years — my entire career at Soucy — allowed me to see how much I had learned. I’ve been able to observe just how much I’ve improved on what I started building in my internship. This is still true two years later. In fact, what I implemented during my internship is still being used by the company. I've only seen the positives!
What was it like to create a full-time position after your studies?
"During my second internship, my manager decided she needed another person to join her team. We had a discussion where we listened to each other's needs. Sophie really wanted to offer me something that interested me, and I wanted to make sure that I could be useful. Together, we came up with a win-win formula, since everyone got something out of it. That's when I was hired in my position at Soucy after my studies.
If you’re also interested in an internship with a company that can adapt to your needs, check out our available internships! If you don't see an opportunity that suits you, send us an e-mail at cv@soucy-group.com.