Student Perspectives: What My Internship at Collection 18 Taught Me About Sales, Data, and Showing Up

Sibel Sude Baskaya (MS in Information Systems, Data Analytics '26)

This semester, I interned at Collection 18 as a Sales Analyst Intern. Honestly, when I first started, I wasn't entirely sure what that title meant in practice, but a few weeks in, I understood it very well.

Collection 18 is a fashion accessories company that works directly with major retailers and brands in a B2B model. That means when something goes wrong—a product gets miscategorised, inventory numbers don't match, a line sheet goes out with outdated pricing—the impact isn’t internal. It ripples outward to the client. I learned this not from a handbook, but from real moments where precision actually mattered.

Day-to-day: buy sheets, line sheets, and a lot of attention to detail

A big part of my role involved preparing buy sheets and line sheets—the documents used to present the product portfolio to clients during sales meetings. At first glance, it looked like a spreadsheet task. But I quickly realised these documents are essentially the sales team's voice in front of a client. If a column is off, the conversation gets complicated.

Alongside that, I tracked available-to-sell (ATS) inventory, figuring out what's in stock, what's incoming, and what can realistically be offered to a client at any given moment. Keeping this data accurate meant the sales team could respond to client enquiries quickly and confidently, without having to double-check everything from scratch. It was a behind-the-scenes role, but I could see directly how it fed into the front-facing sales process.

I also helped coordinate sample tracking across teams, which taught me how many moving parts exist even in what seems like a straightforward request. Getting the right sample to the right person at the right time involves a surprising amount of cross-team communication.

What I didn't expect: networking happens in the margins

Before this internship, networking felt like something that happened at career fairs or on LinkedIn. What Collection 18 taught me is that the most useful connections are built through everyday interactions: a follow-up email, a question asked at the right moment, and showing up consistently.

Because my work touched both sales and operations, I was regularly communicating with people across different functions. I asked a lot of questions, sometimes embarrassingly basic ones, but each answer gave me a clearer picture of how the business actually fits together. Over time, I stopped waiting to be asked for updates and started proactively following up. That small habit, I think, built more trust than anything else I did.

Where my curiosity landed: data and decisions

Toward the end of the internship, I noticed I kept asking the same kinds of questions: Why does this product move faster than that one? Which clients tend to gravitate toward certain categories? The answers, I realised, live in data, but making sense of that data requires understanding the business context first.

This is exactly where my MS in Information Systems, Data Analytics program at Baruch came in. The analytical frameworks and data-driven mindset I've been building in the classroom gave me a real foundation to approach these questions with structure, not just intuition. Seeing that connection between coursework and real business decisions, in real time, on the job, was one of the most validating parts of the experience.

How Baruch opened this door

I want to acknowledge the role Baruch College played in making this opportunity possible. The Zicklin School of Business's emphasis on applied, industry-relevant skills meant I came into this internship already familiar with the kind of analytical thinking the role demanded. Beyond the curriculum, Baruch's career resources and professional network provided a genuine launchpad, connecting students like me with opportunities where we can actually put that knowledge to work. I'm grateful for the support, and I'd encourage any student still on the fence about leaning into those resources to do so. They make a real difference.

One thing for students still looking

The search can be discouraging. I know that feeling. But the starting point matters less than what you do once you're there. A role that looks small on paper can teach you a lot if you stay curious and take initiative. That mindset made all the difference for me.

My internship at Collection 18 was genuinely one of the more formative experiences I've had. It clarified what I'm good at, what I want to get better at, and the kind of environment I want to keep growing in.