A taste of consulting: ZS summer internships
ZS continues to expand its expertise and teams by recruiting bright young minds around the world to launch their careers with us. We offer a variety of internship opportunities for college and university students during the summer before their final year. These programs give students hands-on experience with clients, continuous skills development and access to exclusive networking events.
Keep reading for an inside look at our summer internship program—from some of the top-performing interns of 2023.
Where passion changes lives
As Reina Kobayashi studied biomedical engineering at Cornell University, she became increasingly interested in the business side of healthcare. Meeting ZSers at her university’s career fair sparked her curiosity—and helped her imagine a career in consulting.
“The intersection of consulting and healthcare sounded like a perfect match,” Reina says. “ZSers at the career fair seemed passionate about their work and genuinely enjoyed it, which made me want to be part of ZS.”
During her internship, Reina worked on two projects: one analyzing sales and incentive data to identify growth opportunities within the client’s sales team, and another that integrated interview results to build recommendations for promoting new products.
“I loved all the interactions with ZSers—that was my motivation to come to work every day,” she says. “Hearing how experienced ZSers think, observing their work, and learning from them was invaluable. I was amazed by how fast they were with Excel shortcuts—it felt like magic,” she laughs.
“One-on-one coffee chats were also a highlight. Interns were encouraged to reach out to anyone at ZS for informal conversations. I learned so much—from project work and grad school experiences to the best local restaurants and museums.”
Georgio Homsy has always had a passion for healthcare and business, which led him to the pharmaceutical industry. After five years in pharmaceutical sales in Lebanon and Canada, he was ready to explore a new side of pharma.
“During the recruitment period, I spoke with second-year students who interned at ZS the previous summer. Their feedback about the culture and meaningful work really resonated with me,” he says. “ZS’s on-campus recruiting events confirmed it was the right fit.”
Georgio joined a U.S. digital business transformation project, helping a client leverage next best action and dynamic targeting capabilities to improve sales force effectiveness. The experience gave him exposure to a new pharma market and deepened his understanding of digital optimization strategies.
He also participated in two in-person client workshops, gaining firsthand insight into ZS’s collaborative approach—gathering feedback, addressing gaps and cocreating solutions.
“Working with colleagues from different offices added so much value. Everyone brought unique insights into their roles and workstreams,” he says proudly.
Celine Tesvara was initially torn between pursuing a more academic path or diving into a career in consulting. What tipped the scale was the sense of connection and authenticity she experienced during the recruiting process.
“I met Fei Jiang, a consultant from the Los Angeles office, at a career fair,” Celine recalls. “Fei listened to my questions and interests, even calling HR to make sure I applied for the role that best aligned with me. She also shared all the resources that had helped her in her own journey.
“That one conversation gave me a profound insight into ZS’s culture—it showed me that ZS values its people. I knew then that this was where I wanted to spend my summer.”
During her internship, Celine worked on two projects and connected with ZSers across the firm. Her first project focused on improving efficiency in preclinical drug scaling for a major pharma company by leveraging numerical in silico modeling. Her second project involved helping a biotech startup build a product launch roadmap.
“My advice for future interns is simple: network, network, network,” she says with a smile. “ZSers are genuinely curious about you and will vouch for you. Everyone wants you to succeed and is more than willing to share their advice and insights.”
ZS’s internship programs give students the opportunity to work with world-class clients, gain real-world experience and build both technical and interpersonal skills. Explore your opportunities to launch a consulting career at ZS, and keep up with life at ZS on social media.
Life at ZS
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