Making first contact
Maria discovered BeWay thanks to her involvement with the wider IE Community. She first interacted with the company through an opportunity to collaborate on an event that she organized for the IE Behavioral Economics Club. This allowed her to get to know them more in depth and build a relationship with some of its key professionals. Her experience with them was so rewarding, in fact, that working with a company like BeWay became one of her professional and personal goals.
When she was applying for internships, Maria used her existing connections to reach out to the team. They were very receptive and after two interviews—one with the head of HR and subsequently with the chief of Learning & Development—they offered Maria the role of intern in the Strategy & Training Development department.
A taste of the professional world
BeWay is the top behavioral science consultancy in Latin America, so this was a huge opportunity for Maria, especially given the program she’s pursuing at IE University. Some of their biggest clients are top financial companies in the region. This gave her the chance to explore different fields in the banking world and learn from exceptional professionals.
One of the main projects she worked on was related to strategy and behavioral economics. Her team aimed to optimize governance at the client’s company to improve efficiency and help them effectively achieve their business and economic goals. To accomplish the task, she started by carrying out interviews, conducting research and developing a deeper understanding of both the client’s and the company’s strategy. Using the resulting information, she was then able to create and implement an optimized solution to align with both goals. She also got to grips with the AGILE methodology, as well as organizational tools, hierarchies and much more.
Maria became a valued member of the team and was fortunate to work alongside the director of Learning & Development to create end-to-end B2B courses in behavioral science for various multinational clients. For this, she was responsible for market research, liaising with clients and other organizational tasks. Additionally, she and her teammates constructed the final experimentation repository on Notion.
Lessons from BeWay
Looking back at her experience, Maria highlights not only her professional development but also the people she met, from all over the world, who shared her passion for behavioral science. Before the end of her internship, she was invited to join other professionals at BeWay on a team-building trip to Cancun. Maria thoroughly enjoyed the experience, appreciating the chance to get to know everyone on a deeper level. It’s safe to say that her team has had a great influence on her professional life and has taught her countless lessons.
One of Maria’s main takeaways was her personal and professional growth. Interning at BeWay allowed her to develop valuable hands-on work experience, even before graduating. It also showed her what it’s like to be immersed in the corporate world, giving her a chance to learn from her mistakes for any future role she takes on. What she learned during her experience will stay with her forever.
Maria hopes to continue applying behavioral economics to the professional world. She is very passionate about it: Maria intends to use her knowledge of behavioral science to help people and companies make better decisions, along with increasing their revenues.
Motivated to excel
To other students applying to internships, Maria recommends maintaining a positive and open-to-learn attitude. In her opinion, they are some of the most underrated qualities but will make you go far in your professional journey. Despite the stress of applying to internships, the most important thing is to keep going. Maria suggests staying focused on your goals, no matter how many negative responses you receive—outline your goals and describe how you will achieve them with a feasible step-by-step plan.
Motivation and patience got Maria to where she is today, as well as networking and hard work. On a final note, she highlights how the most important thing is to learn something from every experience: “Don’t get discouraged if you end up getting something you didn’t want because the relationships and professional experience you gain will stay, no matter what.”