My Summer Internship At OneDigital

If you’re on the fence about applying to OneDigital’s Jumpstart Internship — stop sitting on the fence.

I’m a rising senior at the University of Arizona studying Business Management. I came into this summer with a solid academic background, limited knowledge of financial services, and a genuine curiosity about what it actually feels like to work somewhere that talks about culture the way OneDigital does.

Turns out, it feels exactly the way they describe it. Maybe even better.

Jumpstart Internship at a Glance

Do Jumpstart Interns Do Real Work at OneDigital?

Yes. Jumpstart interns contribute to real projects for the team and its clients starting in the first week.

My role as a Financial Services Data Intern wasn’t busy work. I was contributing to real projects from week one — work that actually mattered to the team and the clients we serve. Along the way, I picked up skills I didn’t walk in with, pushed myself into technical territory that was completely new to me, and came out the other side with experience I’m genuinely excited to keep building on.

That’s what Jumpstart actually gives you: enough responsibility to feel the weight of real work, and enough support that you’re never left to figure it out alone. The projects were meaningful, the learning curve was steep in the best way, and by the end of the summer I could look back and clearly see how much ground I’d covered.

Can You Succeed in Financial Services With No Background?

Yes. I started with limited knowledge of financial services and finished the summer comfortable with the terminology and tools, thanks to curiosity and a simple notebook habit.

I’ll be honest — I walked in without much fluency in financial services. The terminology, the technology, the endless acronyms: it was a lot.
So I did what made sense: I bought a journal and started writing everything down. Every meeting, every term I didn’t know, every tool mentioned in passing — it all went in the notebook. That habit became one of the best things I did all summer. By August, I could flip back through those early pages and barely recognize how much had changed.

Curiosity, it turns out, is a skill. You just have to practice it.

What Mentorship and Support Do Jumpstart Interns Get?

Jumpstart interns get a dedicated mentor, an engaged manager, and a cohort of fellow interns who look out for each other.

The mentorship component of Jumpstart is something I’d encourage every prospective intern to take seriously. Having a dedicated mentor invested in your growth, someone you could go to with career questions, talk through the road ahead, and learn from in ways that go beyond the day-to-day work, made a real difference. It’s one thing to be handed projects. It’s another to have someone genuinely in your corner.

And my manager was exceptional. There’s a version of this internship where you feel like an add-on. That was never once my experience. My manager was consistently available, invested in my development, and made a point of connecting me with people across the company. Having someone at that level genuinely care about whether you succeed changes everything — and it shaped the way I think about what good leadership actually looks like.

Then there were my fellow interns. We sat together, talked constantly, and looked out for each other. Any time one of us got a new project, the first thing we’d do was turn to each other and ask, “So what did you get?” Getting that peek into what was happening across different verticals made all of us sharper — and made the experience a whole lot more fun.

What Is OneDigital’s Company Culture Really Like?

OneDigital’s culture is warm, collaborative, and consistent with the values the company puts in writing. I chose to come into the office every day because of it.

I had the option to work from home this summer. I came into the office every single day.

That’s not a small thing. That choice says something about what OneDigital has built. From the very first week, I was met with warmth and genuine enthusiasm, people who wanted to help, who were excited about the work they were doing, who made time to bring an intern into the conversation.

The values OneDigital puts on paper aren’t aspirational. They’re operational. You feel them in the hallways, in the meetings, in the way people talk to each other. It’s the kind of culture that makes you want to show up — and I’m really glad I did.

What Happens at the Jumpstart Intern Summit in Atlanta?

The Intern Summit is a four-day gathering in Atlanta where all Jumpstart interns close out the program with company-wide sessions, a volunteer project, and time to connect.

Just when I thought the summer had already exceeded expectations, it saved its best move for last. All of OneDigital’s Jumpstart interns gathered in Atlanta for a four-day Intern Summit to close out the program. We had company-wide sessions that gave us a broader view of what OneDigital does across all its practice areas, where the company is headed, how the pieces connect, and what the business actually looks like from the inside. We volunteered together, giving back to the Atlanta community in a way that felt genuinely in line with the culture we’d been living in all summer. We went to a Braves game. We explored the city. We laughed a lot.

What I didn’t expect was how fast a group of interns from all over the country would start to feel like a team. Being around people going through the same experience, asking the same questions, figuring things out together in real time — it was energizing. My only regret is that we didn’t have more time together. The summit made me wish we’d all been in the same city from day one.

What Will You Gain From the Jumpstart Internship?

Jumpstart gives you real-world experience, the habit of curiosity, and relationships that last beyond the summer.

Three things I’ll carry into every next chapter:

• A genuine foundation of real-world experience. The project work this summer wasn’t simulated. It was the kind that builds actual confidence.
• The habit of curiosity. A journal and a willingness to not know things — and to write them down until you do.
• The value of relationships. The mentors, managers, and fellow interns I connected with this summer genuinely expanded my world in ways I didn’t expect.

Should You Apply to the OneDigital Jumpstart Internship?

Yes, if you want real work, real mentorship, and a real look at what a people-first career feels like.

In a few weeks, I’ll head back to Tucson to finish my final year at the University of Arizona. I’m leaving with sharper skills, a much clearer picture of the career I want to build, and an honest hope to come back to OneDigital full-time after graduation.

If you’re a rising junior or senior trying to figure out where to spend your summer, look at this program seriously. Jumpstart isn’t a coffee-run internship. It’s real work, real mentorship, and a real look at what a people-first career actually feels like.

You might leave like I did: not just with experience, but with a clear answer to the question “Is this where I want to build my career?” For me, the answer was yes. Come find out if it is for you.

Ready to apply? Jumpstart Internship applications open as early as the fall before the summer program. See what’s open now.