ODI Scholar Latifat Sulaimon is flying high as she finishes her internship at Southwest Airlines.
The fourth-year Morrill Scholar spent the summer in Dallas, Texas, where she worked as a talent acquisition intern in Southwest’s People Department, learning the ins and outs of human resources while supporting a variety of projects.
“Southwest made it possible for me to walk away saying I did several things,” Sulaimon commented. “It wasn’t just one project they trusted me with; they made sure I felt like a true full-time team member.”
Sulaimon’s tasks included sending internal communications, helping with a professional development series, assisting with payroll, planning conferences, leading tours, coordinating service opportunities, and more.
“One of the projects that I’m really proud of is that I was able to conduct thorough research and build an extensive co-op directory. We don’t currently have a co-op program, but we plan on commencing an engineering co-op program in the next year or so,” Sulaimon noted. “I was able to look for all the schools we may want to work with in the future, including over 30 universities throughout the U.S., to make sure the pilot program can bring in more diversity and more females into co-ops, since engineering is a very male-dominated space.”
A particular focus of Sulaimon’s role was increasing minority representation at Southwest, a passion of hers. Sulaimon helped identify diverse populations to target in recruitment, analyzed the company’s application process, and made recommendations for improving hiring practices.
“I’m very passionate about DEI, and I think it comes from my immigrant background, even though I’ve now been in the U.S. for about 20 years. There are so many cultures and so many ethnicities in the world, and we need to be showing that within the companies we work for and buy from,” said the Nigerian native. “No matter the company I work for, I want to make sure that we have more people, more voices, and more populations being shown. I want everyone in the world to be able to see themselves in every space.”
While Sulaimon spent the summer bringing more employees to Southwest, it was ODI that landed her there. She applied for the internship after attending a Southwest virtual information session, university career fair, and ODI resume workshop—all opportunities she found through ODI’s Career Readiness Initiatives and Special Programming (CRISP) unit.
Sulaimon also connected with ODI alum Ezequiel Herrera, her recruiter during the hiring process who would eventually become her supervisor.
“I came in with several areas of interest, and Ezequiel listened to that and put me in spaces that connected me with the right people. That was very impactful for how I plan to maneuver my career going forward,” Sulaimon explained. “Even though Southwest technically connected me to Ezequiel, ODI connected me as well, and I think this is going to be a mentorship and a friendship forever.”
As she jets back to Ohio State to finish her final year as a double major in communication technology and dance, Sulaimon returns with newfound poise and belief in herself.
“This internship, more than anything, has shown me that no matter where I work, I should be confident in who I am,” Sulaimon stated. “I made it into this internship for a reason. They saw my value; they continued to tell me that I’m valuable, and they reminded me that I don’t even need to hear that validation. I can have that validation and confidence all within myself.”