How I landed an internship at my dream company
*original article on andersonmatias.co
I’ve always liked cars. I was totally amazed by races since very young, racing video games were one of my favorite and I can even remember watching our Brazilian hero Ayrton Senna racing on Formula 1 on the weekends, even though I was barely 5. By the same age, I decided my favorite car ever was the Ford Mustang. What I could not know, however, is that I would end up starting my career exactly in the Automotive Industry, working for the company that manufactures my favorite car.
It all comes back to my first semester at College. As a freshman, I was really excited about the career I’ve chosen and the prospects of becoming a mechanical engineer. The first time I saw the list of the course subjects, I was delighted. It was really the right major for me, without any shadow of a doubt. During the course of the first semester, I recall the thought process which led me to decide I wanted to develop automobiles. Coincidence or not, the only car manufacturer available close enough in the region was Ford Motor Company. Of course, later on, I figured the obvious, that there is a whole list of automotive suppliers that would be also a good possibility to enter the market. But it was already settled. I had a target company and this would guide many of my professional (and maybe personal) decisions from that point in time on.
“The only person you are destined to become is the person you decide to be.” — Ralph W. Emerson
From the third semester on, I started to apply for virtually every mechanical engineering internship, in any industry, no matter the remuneration. I just wanted to get the experience and start somewhere. Again, coincidence or not, the first internship selection process I was part of was in Ford. But how come? I truly believe that things do not simply fall from the sky in your lap nor in Determinism or superstitions. The thing here is, during the two and a half years since I decided where I wanted to work, I’ve gathered information and worked on building a network, trying to figure out how I could reach my goal. I’ve researched the company, how a typical internship selection process looks like, what kind of behaviors and skillset are valued, the list goes on and on. I got tips from people in the field, got in contact with people already working in the company, I could really see myself already there. In the end, I sent my resumé to so many different sources within the company — through the website, through friends working on the production, PD, HR contacts, etc — that I ended up being invited to the selection process when I reached the end of the fifth semester.
I remember the feeling when I first got there for the tests. I felt comfortable and relaxed. I had been seeing myself at that very moment for more than two years, so imagining and looking forward to it was a great portion of my preparation (read my article “Power of the mind: with imagination, success comes twice” to know more about what I think of the impact of imagination on reaching goals) and critical to my results. I’ve done the English test, passed through the group dynamics evaluations (research really paid off on this one, I knew every routine applied) and finally got to an interview. I was especially motivated that day. I was so inspired by the possibility of finally reaching my goal, that when I was asked to write a small essay — for 5 to 10 minutes with a subject of my choice, just for them to assess how I organize my ideas — I ended up writing 22 lines about “How I see a good intern/employee should be like”. The day later I received the call from HR saying that I was selected to start with them the next month.
My internship at Ford was incredibly helpful in shaping me professionally and I’m thankful to everyone that contributed and supported me during this time, both to get there and to go through it. However, It was not the first time I had the opportunity to see how structured thinking towards reaching a goal works, nor will be the last. It was this way how I got started with my first band, went to College, moved to Germany, became a Project Manager and so on. The goals may change, the dreams, the companies, the people, the difficulties… you will need anyway to put the effort to decide, plan and execute if you want to be the owner of your destiny. When you give up control of your life you are basically delegating to others the decisions you should be taking, because someone has to do it. Would it not be better to be you?
When you are proud of your past, happy with your present and excited about your future, things have been very likely on track…
One may ask: “so, what’s it all about?”. Well, the key message here is that although good things might happen by chance anyway, you need to put the effort on being consciously prepared in order to maximize the odds of reaching a goal and to be opened to eventual opportunities to get closer to it. I hear so many people stating they want something, but are definitely not putting the effort to actually get there. I’d say that when you are proud of your past, happy with your present and excited about your future, things have been very likely on track. Be positive, grateful and smart, we only got one life so make the most out of it, both personally and professionally…
— — — — —
Thanks for reading! Liked this article? Check out some more:
The power of the mind: with imagination, success comes twice
The Brazilian Way: 5 traits that stand out at work
