Senior Internship Spotlight: Josh K. Klein ‘18

Every summer, many Hotelies often intern at hotels, restaurants, consulting firms and more to get a hands-on, real world experience. It allows them to use the skills and knowledge they learned in class in a different setting. Today, Josh K. Klein SHA ‘18 will talk about his experience interning at Avero in the summer of 2017.

Where did you intern this past summer?

This past summer I interned with Avero, a data analytics company helping restaurant operators leverage data driven decisions to help their bottom line.

What were your expectations of the internship prior to starting? My expectation was to be in a classic internship position aiding full time employees with various projects throughout the company. I expected to be utilized primarily to help work on the technical side and leverage excel to help employees make decisions and present to clients.

What roles, responsibilities, and tasks did you have as an intern? The reality of the internship was far different than expected. I was exposed to four different sectors of the company: business development, hotel marketing, restaurant operations, and product development. Having the opportunity to observe and to individually work on real, useful projects for the Avero team not only made me feel like a contributing member but allowed me to experience what actual projects in the department might be like. I appreciated the client facing aspect of client operations which allowed interactions with restaurant and hotel companies such as Batali & Bastianich Hospitality Group and Marriott International.

Is there anything unique about where you interned? (company culture, location, etc…) The company location in New York City places Avero in the heart of the city’s fine dining scene and grants exposure to amazing restaurant groups which to work with and learn from. Further, the company culture is a casual technology environment with a true feeling of connectivity. As a relatively small office, it made speaking to and learning from the executive team extremely easy, which can be something not achieved at larger companies.

Are there any skills that you have gained or built on during your internship? My presentation skills were something that I was able to work tremendously on. Presenting internally to the executive team on business development research or externally to restaurant groups on their usage of Avero and annual reviews allowed me to highlight areas to work on. Our internship mentors also provided intensive feedback on how to continuously improve our presentations which was a huge help.

How has interning at Avero changed your view on F&B industry? The technology industry is going to be continuously more involved in the restaurant industry moving forward. It will be interesting to see where technology adapts to replace human interactions such as in casual service restaurants eliminating servers in favor of screens. Furthermore, because data is being amassed at such a fast rate in the past decade, there is so much information for companies to make decisions based off of and of which to analyze. The restaurant industry has traditionally been a slow adopter of technology and the next decade could see large-scale changes in how food service incorporates technology and data into everyday operations.