Business major Nicole Resendes was thrilled to land a social media marketing co-op position at MFS Investment Management in Boston — although she wasn’t entirely sure what to expect.

“You have this preconceived notion that a financial services firm is going to be so cookie-cutter with not much room for creativity, but it’s not like that at all,” the Arlington, Massachusetts, native says. “Everyone is so collaborative and welcoming. It definitely exceeded my expectations.”

As part of the global marketing team, Resendes analyzed user engagement, site metrics and campaign subscriptions for the firm’s posts on platforms such as LinkedIn, Twitter and Facebook. While she considered herself well-versed on social media through her personal use, the co-op taught her just how much goes into running a corporate account.

“Everything they do is highly regulated and has to go through compliance, so it’s cool being behind the scenes and seeing all that happen,” she says.

Even though the co-op was mostly remote because of COVID-19, Resendes says she still got a good feel for the company culture through virtual team meetings. She also got to polish her presentation skills by giving a report on the firm’s value proposition to MFS executives — a judged competition for co-ops at the end of their semester.

“It’s going to be hard to top my co-op,” says Resendes, who was excited to apply what she learned from the experience when she returned to the classroom. “It gives me a different perspective. I think it will help me relate my coursework to the real world.”

Resendes, who participated in the DifferenceMaker program as a junior, says she chose UML for its strong business school and because it was close to home. She is enrolled in the Bachelor’s-to-Master’s Program and plans to continue for her MBA after completing her undergraduate degree in December 2022.

“I’m really happy I took the opportunity to use the resources they have here,” she says.