Cook County Assessor’s Office intern program continues to see future results

Skills acquired by high school student during Assessor Berrios’ internship program helped him in college, leading to this month’s graduation and immediate hiring
TreJon House
TreJon House

Cook County Assessor’s Office intern program continues to see future results

The high school intern program of the Cook County Assessor’s Office (CCAO), the only such program in any Cook County office, takes pride in yet another success story.

TreJon House of Chicago’s Roseland neighborhood, a CCAO intern during his senior year at Marist High School, earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Software Engineering from the Milwaukee School of Engineering earlier this month. House said time spent as a CCAO intern in 2012 taught skills that benefited him in college and helped shape the person he is today.

“My internship with Assessor Berrios’ Office taught me to stay calm and level-headed during hard and emotional situations,” House said. “It also taught me strong communication, organizational and professional skills that I used while in college and in my job, which I’ve already started.”

Shortly after graduating earlier this month, House was hired by Industrial and Finance Systems (IFS), a company that develops enterprise software for customers around the world. House works out of the Brookfield, Wisconsin location as a member of the mobile solutions team in their Research and Development Department for North America.

“In some ways, I was a very shy and quiet person and the Assessor’s Office helped me learn to be confident so taxpayers knew I was capable of helping them,” House explained. “My internship definitely gave me more confidence with people I met then and further down the road. It assisted me at school and now plays a positive role for me at my job.” House said.

The CCAO internship program began in 2010 and has grown to include many sponsoring agencies. The students gain valuable experience learning how to communicate, interact with others, help taxpayers and dress for the workplace. The sponsoring agencies pay the students for their work and community service hours are credited to certain participating students.

“We are thrilled to host interns each year and help them develop skills that will help them later in life,” Cook County Assessor Joseph Berrios said. “The intern experience affords many high school students their first glimpse into the working world and takes them out of their day-to-day element and into something very different.”

Assessor Berrios received an award from Youth Outreach Services (YOS) for his strong support of its high school intern program. The organization noted that CCAO is the only county agency currently participating in the intern program.

Assessor Berrios stressed that internships coupled with a quality education provide students with a great head start in today’s competitive world.

“Entering the real work force having acquired experience and skills benefits the students in so many ways. And education -- that is the great equalizer. No matter who the students are, or where they are from, a quality education will provide them with opportunities above and beyond,” Berrios said.

House looks back fondly on his experiences both in the classroom and with the Assessor’s Office. His future goals include continuing his education with a graduate degree.

“There should be no limits to what I can do,” he said. “Assessor Berrios, his staff and my family taught me that. I know they’re right.”

Latest Stories

Latest Podcast

On The 9 Run Crew