Julianna De León
By Zoë Eitel
After completing a couple of internships with the City of Chicago, Julianna De León is now an intern at the Federal Bank of Chicago where she works in Human Resources with the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion team—as well as working as a Peer Career Coach at the DePaul Career Center.
In her current role, Julianna provides support to the DEI team and collaborates with other project teams to identify and determine solutions to challenges the bank may be facing. This internship came to Julianna’s attention after an alumna of her sorority who had previously interned with the Fed posted about the opportunity on social media. For her previous internships, she was able to connect with one through the Career Center’s Job Shadow program and find another through Handshake.
“All of these roles caught my attention because of the ability to learn new skills, network with established professionals in these fields and continue working to better the lives of people in my community and city in different fields,” she says.
As an Applied Diplomacy major, Julianna has interest in many different fields, such as immigration law, local government and foreign service, and in her internships, she’s been able to learn the many different paths people can take in those fields to find success in their careers.
Intern at the Federal Bank of Chicago
BA Applied Diplomacy 2023
“I have learned that I really enjoy the communications aspect of all my internships. As a student interested in numerous fields, I find that I enjoy learning how to problem solve and work with others,” Julianna says. “These internships have allowed me to create real-world connections, use different concepts and theories I learn in my classes in addition to gaining confidence in public speaking.”
“These internships have allowed me to create real-world connections, use different concepts and theories I learn in my classes in addition to gaining confidence in public speaking.”
Because of the COVID-19 pandemic, Julianna has been working remotely for her internships, which has made her recognize the importance of finding the balance between independent work and team work. She enjoys working with others on projects and wants to work more collaboratively in the future.
She has also not been able to work directly with communities in Chicago and travel around the city to see how the organizations she works with impact communities, but she hopes to do that in future roles.
In addition to working as a Peer Career Coach to help her fellow students with career services such as resume reviewing and mock interviewing, Julianna has taken advantage of the resources the Career Center provides to further her career. As well as finding an internship through the Job Shadow program, Julianna also received financial support for an unpaid internship with the Internship Plus award and enrolled in a UIP course to gain course credit for an internship.
“I’ve been visiting the Career Center since my freshman year to familiarize myself with career learning and development resources,” she says. “On a quarterly basis, I always make sure to go over my resume with a career advisor and ensure my updated resume is up to par.”
As for her future, Julianna hopes to return to the Fed next summer to intern for them again in the hopes of eventually working there as a full-time employee. She is also invested in scheduling informational interviews with professionals she’s connected with on LinkedIn.
“I truly hope incoming freshman and returning second-year students come to realize the support they have as Blue Demons on-campus and recognize the abundance of resources, clubs, and extracurriculars to take advantage of!” Julianna advises.