Alaina Martineau BS’21

Name: Alaina Martineau
From: Elizabeth City, NC
Course of Study: Business Administration, Supply Chain & Operations Concentration
Graduation Year: 2021

Why did you choose NC State?

My sister goes to NC State, so I was very familiar with the school and the area. I applied, and after I was accepted, I visited the school for the “Experience NC State” day, which is an optional visitation day designed for admitted students to help them make their decision on whether or not to attend. I sat through three of the business admin classes, and one of them happened to be supply chain. I was very interested, and it seemed to really align with what I’m interested in doing for my career. I had taken business classes in high school, and I really enjoyed them, so I knew I wanted to do business, but I hadn’t decided on supply chain until that day.

What specifically interested you about supply chain management?

I’ve always been very organized, and I love results-driven processes and projects and being able to see how the work you put in to them directly affects what’s produced. I also like the organizational aspect of making sure everything is done on time to ensure products get to the users when they need to be there.

What skills do you think are important for being a successful supply chain student?

I think organization is a big one, and of course networking and being able to communicate effectively. Also, being able to follow the trends in technology. Technological updates are happening so rapidly that are speeding up the supply chain processes — I think it will be really important for students to stay on top of these advancements as they progress into their careers.

What extracurricular activities have you taken advantage of to enhance your student experience?

I’m a member and officer of the NC State Supply Chain Club, and I’m also on the fellowship committee for the Raleigh Wesley Foundation, a campus ministry for Methodists.

What does your role in the Supply Chain Club entail?

I maintain the website, which I actually created myself. Since the Supply Chain Club is not an officially registered club with the university whose members pay fees, we didn’t have an official website. So I used a free website app to create one so that people who are interested in the club can know when our meetings are, what we’re up to, see pictures, and just get a feel for what we’re about.

How did you go about taking on that responsibility? Was it your own idea, or was it an opportunity presented to all the club members?

During one of the officer meetings this last year, we were talking about ways to reach out and get more people involved, because we had been having low attendance, and I mentioned how I wasn’t really involved with the club my freshman year because I found it difficult to find out when the meetings were and what kind of events were going on. So I mentioned the idea of a website, which had been proposed before, but had never come to fruition — mainly because most officers are juniors and seniors who aren’t around long enough to consistently maintain it. So being the youngest officer in the club, I went ahead and volunteered to take on the project. I plan to keep it going for the next three years, and hopefully by my senior year I’ll be able to pass it off to someone else.

What are your favorite things about the supply chain program at NC State?

I would probably have to say Professor Freeman, who is just really great at teaching and being there for students. She has a really good concept of supply chain management, because she’s been in the industry for so long. She also has a lot of connections and knows how to network, and she really knows what companies are looking for in their supply chain recruits. She offers all these resources and recommendations to her students and really helps them get involved in the industry and find a job after they graduate.

Before our networking events, she will host career prep workshops and help with resume reviews. She’ll also have reps from the career center come in to tell us what the employers are looking for and how to network and make an impression, which is really important because there are so many students that go to those networking events, and you really have to make yourself stand out.

How have you been able to take advantage of those resources to help yourself stand out?

The biggest thing that Professor Freeman has helped me with is my resume prep. She knows what kind of keywords the recruiters are looking for, and she has been able to review mine a couple times to help me perfect it to fit what the industry reps are looking for. She’s also been a huge help in helping me network — I’m actually doing an internship right now in logistics that she helped me find.

Can you describe your current summer internship?

I’m the logistics intern in outbound logistics at Retail Business Services. Retail Business Services is a company of five grocery brands along the east coast, the one of which is most well known in our area is Food Lion. My internship project for the summer entails balancing the delivery schedules for Food Lion retail stores based on volume.

What are your plans for post-graduation?

I have explored the idea of getting an MBA from NC State — they do have a wonderful supply chain graduate program. And then they also offer the luxury management master’s program, which seems very interesting to me. So I’ve explored those options, but also, hopefully next summer I’ll be able to get an internship with a company that I want to work with after I graduate!