Intern Success Story: Laiba Saqib
By Nathaniel Kern, Human Resources Intern
May 28, 2019
It was one of those moments when everything clicked. It was the right place, the right time, and most importantly, the right internship. Such was the experience of Laiba Saqib, an Audit Intern for the Colorado Department of Transportation (CDOT).
Valued Time
During her time with CDOT, Laiba truly enjoyed being surrounded by coworkers who pushed her to be a successful intern, and helped her develop as an auditor. In fact, it was because they were able to move around her schedule, encouraging her to learn, and ask questions, that allowed her to value her CDOT experience.
“I think one of the most valuable things about being an intern, is the fact that you are able to learn something from every single person in the office.” – Laiba Saqib
Photo of Laiba Saqib
Engaging Work
Laiba loved the challenging assignments that helped develop her auditing skills, that she had started building on in her class work. Her most challenging assignment was reading statute after statute from the Colorado Revised Statutes for audit referencing as a part of her research, since it was made up of many complex legal frameworks and statute specific jargon. But, as she says, “thankfully I had guidance from my very talented co-workers who answered every single one of my 5,000 questions.”
Her hard work in this statute research paid off with the project she was proudest of, a work paper for the Colorado Revised Statutes review, which received high levels of praise from the entire department, because of its outstanding quality.
Oh, The Places You'll Go!
Laiba believes that managing time and efficiency were key skills gained at her internship. As she affirmed, “One of the most important skills I personally learned as an intern, was how to manage my time and make my work day as efficient as possible.” These skills have helped Laiba in her current career path, working full time as a tax auditor for the Colorado Department of Revenue in the Taxation, Audit & Compliance Division, where she conducts sales and use tax audits on different businesses within the State of Colorado.
Questions Please?
When asked for advice about future interns, Laiba mentioned that interns need to prepare to be open and ask questions. “To be a successful intern at CDOT, some skills that come in handy are strong communication skills, professionalism, and willingness to ask questions when in doubt.”