Former Student Spotlight - Matt Soldano
Matt Soldano joined the U.S. Commercial Service as a State Department Virtual Student Federal Service (VSFS) Intern in the fall of 2021 while pursuing a degree in Business Administration from Purdue University Global. VSFS is an eight-month internship for college-level, U.S. citizen students to work on projects of global importance. After earning his undergraduate degree, he obtained an MBA from Moravian University with a focus on Managerial Accounting. After obtaining his MBA, he was hired as a Financial Analyst for the General Services Administration, a position he credits his time with the REC helping him obtain.
Before his time as a VSFS Intern, Matt had experience in the fields of agriculture and construction. Through his internship, he was able to work with a variety of businesses and industries from around the country. Due to those varied experiences, he was able to demonstrate that he had a wide skill base to bring to potential employers.
Matt thinks the most transferrable skill he learned during his internship was how to only look at data but translate that data into usable information for company management. Matt’s favorite part of the internship was being able to present information to company leadership and see how excited they were about the data the team had found. One of the companies Matt worked for ended up signing a distributor agreement, leading to the product being sold in the Czech Republic. Matt was able to make a difference in strategically helping an American rural business for years to come.
When asked about advice for future interns, Matt answered, “Leap into projects with which you are uncomfortable. Stepping into the unknown can only help grow your skillset. Also, do not be afraid to ask questions. You are an intern, no one is expecting you to know how to do everything. Do not be afraid of saying, ‘I don’t know.’”
As a non-traditional student and parent, Matt knew balance in life can be challenging, but the REC made it manageable to balance schedules that worked for the interns. Matt enjoyed being busy and was easily able to handle anything that came his way. Being a Marine Corps veteran himself, Matt was excited for a new challenge. His original goal was to use this internship as an introduction to working for the federal government as a civilian. The internship gave him great insight into that path and helped him get comfortable in a different type of federal working environment. He would highly recommend any other veterans looking to transition to the federal workforce to start off in an internship like this.