My Journey to Interning at Thumbtack

Emily Chau joined Thumbtack in May as a Software Engineering Intern on our Memberships Team. She recalls her interest in computer science developing as early as middle school. Today, she resides in the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently studying computer science at the University of California, Berkeley. In this Q&A, she shares what her experience has been like interning with Thumbtack and how she fell in love with the problem-solving aspect of engineering.

What are you studying in college? Did you always know that you wanted to become an engineer?

I am currently studying computer science in college. I was introduced to computer science early on in middle school with the Hour of Code. However, it wasn’t until I did Kode with Klossy, a free summer coding camp in high school, that my interest in programming was sparked when I built my first web app. Ultimately, the AP Computer Science course I took in my senior year of high school solidified my interest and made me want to become an engineer. I fell in love with the problem-solving aspect which tickled my brain, unlike any other school subject.

What were you looking for in an engineering internship and what was appealing about Thumbtack?

I knew I wanted to work with a consumer-facing product and see my work impact people. As for why Thumbtack, I honestly gravitated towards the mission and product. Around the time I was applying, my parents bought a house after 10 years of renting, and I saw how much work went into making it their own. I liked that Thumbtack helped homeowners build confidence in maintaining their homes and also provided opportunities for professionals.

How would you describe the engineering culture at Thumbtack?

I felt connected to the team and the people since there was great collaboration and communication fostered in Slack from Day 1. I had the opportunity to directly work with every single person on my team across various tasks throughout my internship. Every engineer I have worked with so far has been so responsive, fielding all of my questions and not hesitating to do a quick Slack huddle. Another thing that I never thought about (but really appreciate) is the writing culture at Thumbtack. Our “wiki” is extensive, so it was easy to find what I was looking for and discover new things.

What was your favorite thing about the intern experience?

Aside from the offsite and getting to connect with fellow interns, I loved the impact I was able to make with my intern project. My manager scoped one of the H2 initiatives for the Membership Team into a project that I was able to carry out from start to finish. I had the opportunity to practice my product sense and wrote a “request for comments” (RFC) and a “product requirement doc” (PRD). I was able to work with our team’s designers and analysts as well as get reviews from all levels, including my manager and PM. After scoping and implementing, I reached out to other teams to get ownership approvals and really got to know my project’s stakeholders. I was also able to run my own dogfooding session to test out the new feature I built and eventually watch it go live — which was so exciting!

What advice would you give someone just starting out their internship search?

As it was my first internship, I did not know what to expect or what to look for in a company. What really helped me was talking to my friends and hearing about their internship experiences to get a feel for what they liked and most importantly what they disliked.

Interested in joining Thumbtack? Visit thumbtack.com/careers to learn more about open roles and Summer 2023 internship opportunities!