NOTE: This article is the second in a series titled, UALR Co-op Works, highlighting the successes of students who have jump-started their careers by landing internship positions with local companies through the UALR Cooperative Education Internship and Placement Office.

Mark Dixon entered the University of Arkansas at Little Rock Cooperative Education Internship and Placement program wanting to immerse himself in all-things accounting. He also wanted to propel his career forward by gaining greater knowledge and experience in the business world.

As an intern for 16 months in the Little Rock-based Dassault Falcon Jet accounting department, Dixon found exactly those sort of opportunities.

“My co-op experience was long term, which allowed me enough time to make myself valuable,” he said.

Besides “digging in boxes and doing typical intern tasks to help everyone around the office,” Dixon was able to improve his accounting skills by conducting reconciliations and journal entries. He also significantly improved his skills in Microsoft Excel, Access, and PowerPoint.

“This experience helped me prove my knowledge of accounting and my work ethic, and it allowed me to apply what I was learning in school with real world applications,” he said. “I could not have asked for a better situation while going to school.”

Dixon loves researching and solving problems, and his favorite class during his time at UALR was Federal Tax Research, where he devised an idea for tax reform.

Dixon describes himself as “high energy, but laid back,” and he says that other people usually describe him as “persistent.”

His persistence paid off when, at the end of his co-op internship, Dassault Falcon Jet offered Dixon a full-time position as a financial analyst and accountant. He now manages several financial databases.

To learn more about internship opportunities, go to the UALR Cooperative Education Internship and Placement Office.

To support the newly established Jesse Mason and Gail Reede Jones, M.D. Endowed Scholarship for Co-op interns, or to attend the UALR Cooperative Education Program’s 20th Anniversary event at 6 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 24, go to Co-op Works.

Read the first article in this series at Co-op internships work: Fahlenkamp’s story.