When your home or business is at stake, you want someone you can trust to pick up the phone and be there when you need it most.
The integrity, responsiveness, honesty, empathy and professionalism required to do this job is not found everywhere and it doesn’t develop overnight. Mentorship, leadership training, and career development are all important aspects of our internal company culture and this fall, Parker Makowski was able to experience this firsthand.
Parker is currently a senior at Waynesburg University in Pennsylvania and has served as an intern in Sasser Restoration’s finance department over the last few months. During this time, he has assisted with various finance-related projects, some including the 2023 budget and data visualization.
“One of the main things I’ve been tasked with is Power BI, an automated reporting system that takes excel sheets and mimics your data to make reporting easier to understand,” he said.
Parker was able to present his work with data visualization to Sasser’s executive leadership team and a few days later was able to see his work in action as Sasser’s Chief Strategy Officer used reports from Power BI in one of his own meetings.
“I’ve gained a lot of communication skills through this internship because I have had to talk to leadership,” he said. “The difference between this internship and previous ones is that I don’t feel nervous going into meetings with executives and talking to them. I don’t feel like I’m afraid to mess up because I know they will be there to help me.”
Parker is Sasser Restoration’s first finance intern and is opening the door for more opportunities not only in his own future but for those who are also seeking a career in finance. He describes his experience as “something he would do over again” and that he “wants someone else to experience what he felt” through this internship.
“Parker has been a welcomed addition to the Sasser finance team and has been influential in bringing his technical skills to his internship role this fall. In a short amount of time, he has already created PowerBI tools which I believe will help the organization become more competitive and proactive in the future,” Wes Hershelman, Director of Finance at Sasser Restoration, said. “My goal is to one day offer a management rotational program at Sasser for young business professionals right out of college. Creating an internship program would be the first step in the process. I am thankful that Parker has been willing to help pave the way for others in the future.”
Parker encourages any aspiring professionals who come into an internship role at Sasser to “not be afraid to ask questions or be intimidated.” He witnessed his own confidence in his abilities grow over the last few months because he asked questions.
“Even if I don’t know what I am doing, I can ask the Director of Finance or the Chief Financial Officer for help— everyone is willing to help and you don’t get that everywhere.”
Aside from his experience at Sasser Restoration, Parker is dedicated to his studies and will graduate from Waynesburg University in December with a major in healthcare management and a minor in finance. Additionally, he has already started a Master’s program in Data Analytics through Waynesburg University.
Outside of his academic and professional career, Parker is a Bonner Scholar. Through this scholarship, he completes 140 hours of unpaid community service, training and enrichment each semester. Parker also is a youth group leader at his church where he spends a lot of time teaching and helping kids in his community.
At Sasser Restoration, we truly want to be the best restoration company nationwide and in order to do that, we have to have the best people on our team working hand in hand to bring buildings back to life. It has been an honor to have Parker as part of the Sasser Restoration team and we look forward to what is next in his career!
