From Intern to Anywhere: How a P&G Internship Can Launch a Career

P&G interns don't sit on the sidelines.

From Day 1, they take on meaningful work, tackle business challenges and contribute to brands used by millions of consumers around the world. It’s a unique type of internship, and it attracts students who are eager to see the impact of their work firsthand.

"If you come to P&G, you truly do have important work, and you make an impact from your first day,” said James Eblen, Employment Brand and Initiatives Manager and leader of P&G's U.S. internship program.

This year, approximately 560 students earned spots in P&G's U.S. summer internship program. Hundreds more are participating in internship programs around the world.

Eblen said the internship experience is designed to help students build skills as well as connections. They attend events like a World Cup watch party and enjoy brand-sponsored experiences ranging from a Bounce therapy-dog event to an Always kickboxing class. They even receive a gift bag stocked with P&G products, giving them an early taste of a Company tradition employees have enjoyed for years.

"We want interns to envision themselves as part of P&G," Eblen said. “We want to make sure they feel like there's a spot for them.”

For today’s interns, it's impossible to know exactly where the experience might lead. The three employees featured below are at different stages of their careers and have followed very different paths, but they all trace their journey back to the same starting point: a P&G internship.

Early Career: Trusted to Lead

When Ricci Grapilon started her HR internship in Manila in 2023, she was assigned to lead a local mental health awareness event.

That was just the beginning.

What started as a local initiative evolved into a nationwide rollout of P&G's new wellbeing framework across three sites in the Philippines with Grapilon coordinating leader communications, video messages, employee events and onsite displays to bring the program to life.

"It was a daunting task as an intern," she said. "I was really, really, really scared."

Grapilon dug in and developed new skills in event management, communications planning and message development. She learned how to navigate ambiguity, seek feedback and bring together a complex mix of digital and in-person activities.

"I don't think it's the norm at other companies for interns to be entrusted with that big of a project," she said. "I'm grateful to P&G for putting that trust in me."

Looking back, she says the experience taught her an important lesson she still carries with her: discomfort leads to growth.

Today, Grapilon works as an HR Business Partner in Manila. The lessons she learned as an intern continue to shape how she approaches new challenges, especially when the path forward isn't clear.

She encourages today’s interns to be open to opportunities that stretch their capabilities. Her internship project is proof that growth often comes from stepping into unfamiliar situations and learning as you go.

What once felt overwhelming became the foundation of her career.

Mid-Career: Building Connections That Last

Rob Basilona still smiles when he remembers his internship.

There he was, a college student still finding his footing, when suddenly he was leading a team of professionals with decades of experience who were two or three times his age.

"I was given a real leadership role to manage them," he said.

The work itself was equally significant. As an information security intern in 2016, Basilona helped transform P&G's identity and access management platform — a tool used by many P&G users daily. He also designed and implemented a new process for managing technology access reviews across the company.

"It was a very good moment of truth for me when I was hired," he said. "The work that I did as part of an 8-week internship was still in play and still is today."

Basilona was never treated like a temporary employee working on the sidelines. He was part of the team, driving business priorities, collaborating with suppliers and working alongside experienced professionals.

"I was really part of an A team," he said.

He didn’t have all the answers, but he quickly learned that in a company with thousands of employees around the world, he could reach out to people who could help. He developed the confidence to ask questions, build relationships and learn from others.

Today, Basilona serves as IT Director, Global Network Product Delivery and Portfolio Integration. He now finds himself on the other side of those conversations, helping others navigate challenges just as mentors once helped him.

Many of the interns who started alongside him are still with P&G and now serve in senior management roles across the company.

"P&G will not hire you for a job," he said. "They hire you for a career."

For today's interns, Basilona's advice is to focus on steady improvement. It's the same mindset he learned as an intern and has carried with him throughout his career.

"All I needed to do was to be better every single day," he said. "The internship is really a micro version of a P&G career."

Leadership: The Art of What’s Possible

When Vinay Ahuja joined P&G as an intern in India more than three decades ago, he expected to learn about business.

What he discovered was something much more enduring. He learned to imagine what could be possible.

Ahuja's internship project focused on trends in consumer goods in rural India. He gathered data, studied consumer behavior and learned how people lived and shopped in underserved communities.

But his manager wanted more than a report on current conditions.

"He said, 'Figure out what exists, understand why it exists, then forget what exists and imagine what should exist,'" Ahuja recalled.

The assignment challenged him to think differently. What unmet consumer needs existed? What opportunities might emerge in the future? How could P&G help shape that future?

"It all started with collecting the data," he said. "But the outcome was all about the possibilities."

The experience fundamentally changed his work — and gave him a broader vision.

"I thought I was going to learn how business worked," he said. "I really learned through my internship how to imagine a world that did not exist yet."

Today, Ahuja serves as Vice President, Analytics & Insights for Europe, and is based in Geneva, Switzerland. His career has taken him from India to China, Belgium, Dubai and Switzerland, with opportunities to work across businesses, cultures and markets around the world.

When he reflects on that journey, he traces much of his success to that early vote of confidence.

"P&G placed that belief in me before I had earned a single line on my résumé,” he said.

The experience also taught him growth doesn't end when formal education does. He still dedicates significant time to developing new skills. Having recently graduated from Harvard’s prestigious Business Analytics & AI Program, he is now channeling that same ambition into learning to fly a plane.

"The only thing permanent is your ability to keep learning new skills," he advises today’s interns.

More than three decades after his internship, Ahuja is still embracing the mindset he developed as a young intern in India: Stay in a permanent beta mindset — curious, keep learning and evolving every day, and imagine what's possible.

For Grapilon, Basilona and Ahuja, a P&G internship was the starting point of careers that continue to evolve. This summer, hundreds of interns are taking on challenges and opportunities of their own.

Their projects will be different. Their career paths will be unique. But they share the same opportunity to learn, grow and make an impact. And like many interns before them, they may discover the experience can shape their future in ways they never imagined.