When Robert W. Martin '99 said he planned to make the most of his college years, he didn't take it lightly.

An honors economics concentrator with plans to graduate in January, Martin has worked 50-60 hours each week since the beginning of his junior year at Advent International Corporation, a global private equity firm based in Boston which manages $3 billion invested in more than 400 companies.

"I wanted to round out my skills set," Martin says.

With plans to work during his junior year, he began his campaign for an internship at Advent International in June of 1997. It took three months of networking and a Harvard connection to secure a position by the beginning of fall term, he said.

After learning that a Harvard graduate had a connection with a partner at the firm, Martin called the partner 40 times in one month for an interview, only to be told that the firm did not employ interns. After placing dozens of calls with another partner in the firm, he was again told there was not enough work for an intern.

With nothing to lose, Martin persisted.

"I'm like, `Okay, you're lying,'" Martin recalled of the telephone conversation.

He offered to work for two weeks without pay, unless he was called that week and told that there was no work.

"I figured if I could get in there and show them what I did, the merits would speak for themselves."

Martin disconnected his phone and headed to the firm's offices in Boston that week, introducing himself to everyone as the new intern.

The partners told Martin they tried to call him, but never got an answer.

"I don't know what happened," he told them, shrugging. He had gotten his foot in the door, and that's what counted.

In the field of private equity, persistence and good sales pitches sell, Martin says.

"Half of the time, they're trying to figure out if you can do the job. The rest of the time, they're figuring out how much you want the job."

Though Martin says his employers were apprehensive about hiring a student with relatively little experience, he was officially hired as an intern by the end of the week.