All-pros to arrivals: Business student uses UofSC to land internship
Posted on: August 19, 2014; Updated on: August 19, 2014
By Collyn Taylor, collyn.p.taylor@gmail.com
All-pro linebackers, high-profile high school recruits and dealing with large shipping orders are all in a day's work for Eric Dunton.
The junior Global Supply Chain and Operations Management major at the University of South Carolina earned an internship working as a customer service representative for large accounts at Under Armor.
He learned about the internship through JobMate, a service provided through the Career Center. He also used the Career Center to polish his resume to send to Under Armor.
"Throughout the way, they've always hooked me up with resume reviews. I would always bring my resume into the Career Center and they really helped me groom that and get it ready," Dunton says. "I brought my cover letter and my resume to get it checked out and ready for a company like Under Armor."
Dunton credits his on-campus involvement with helping him win the internship. He was a residence mentor last year and is a member of the Delta Sigma Pi professional fraternity.
"That's really what got me the job: being involved on campus," he says. "One of the reasons they hired me in the customer service department was my background in supply chain. That's what we work with a lot."
Working for Under Armor, Dunton handles accounts from large companies like Dick's Sporting Goods, Academy
Sports and other department stores.
He also creates manuals for different positions in the company to help with training.
Under Armor is a fast-growing company and is constantly hiring and teaching new employees. Dunton says almost all of the people he works with are under 30 years old and that that fosters a healthy learning environment.
"They help me to learn a lot and it's not too fast," he says. "They want me to ask questions but it's competitive. Under Armor is all about sports and competition, so there are always people pushing you to be better and to beat out the other brands."
That pressure, he says, is teaching him how to succeed and become innovative.
"One of Kevin Plank's, the chief executive officer, model is, 'Make one dollar, spend three,' " Dunton says. "That's a really good depiction of what it's like at Under Armor. It's all about being innovative and being resourceful and being the best."
His favorite memory is getting to meet former All-Pro linebacker LaVar Arrington during a weekend sporting event for high school recruits.
Being from the small town of Sumter, S.C., Dunton says he really likes the big city atmosphere of Baltimore and loves working for Under Armor. He hopes this internship can help boost him to a full-time position for the company in the future.
"I want to do something I don't get tired of. That's why I went after Under Armor in the first place. I didn't want to work somewhere where I didn't care about what they were doing," Dunton says. "Whether I work for Under Armor or not, my biggest goal is to say I work somewhere where I wake up in the morning, I want to be there."
Learn more
Learn more about the Global Supply Chain and Operations Management program in the Darla Moore School of Business.
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