It takes a village: building a supportive environment for your intern program
This is part 2 in our 3 part series covering Redbubble’s Melbourne summer intern program. To meet the interns, check out the first post in our series over here.
Ensuring success for our third summer intern program has been a lot like following a good recipe. We ensured we had the right quantities of high quality ingredients. Next, we established a clear guide of what to do once we had those ingredients in hand. And then…we checked on it (frequently!) to make sure it came out just the way we had imagined!
To ensure our interns had an exceptional twelve weeks with us, our teams went through great lengths to make sure our new additions received support. We know that managers and mentors play a key role in the success of these opportunities and we’re so thankful that our Bubblers are so invested in seeing the next generation of tech professionals truly excel.
In our program, each of the interns is assigned a manager and a mentor. While the manager takes on more of a traditional people manager role, the mentor is there to coach and support the intern on a more personal level. For example, with our engineering teams we utilise pair-programming practices, which adds in another opportunity for interns to build a close relationship with their team members. (For tips on how to pair inclusively, check out this guide from one of our engineers)
Give and Get
This year’s intern group came from varied interests and educational backgrounds (To meet the interns, check out the first post in our series over here). They were curious and eager to learn, bringing new perspectives to creative solutions. And so were we! Many of our leaders commented that seeing our organisation through fresh eyes has re-sparked their own enthusiasm and excitement for the work we do. Celebrating small wins and overcoming new challenges has brought momentum and motivation to the entire team.
It really made us think: not only do we get to support independent artists as they pursue their hobby or their dream, but we do it using the most innovative technologies, collaborative teams and respect for one another. Not a bad day at the office hey?
Fostering a learning environment
We encourage our internship leaders to recall when they were learning a new skill or starting a new job, to better empathise with the class. There are a lot of overwhelming concepts to absorb in a short twelve week period, so finding the best way to support each individual has been the most impactful thing we could do.
We also realise that explaining our technical work in a simple way is a critical skill and something that may not come naturally at first. Working with interns, juniors or people new to the tech industry is a great way for us to re-frame our own technical understanding in a way that almost anyone can understand.
We also know that teaching, coaching and supporting is another valuable skill, and that our leaders will experience growth through this experience. In reality, the interns and their leaders are both on a learning and development journey together through this program.
These insights are useful when we think about running our intern program in other offices and in years to come, but also helps inform how we think about supporting new junior team members. Our quickly evolving domain requires learning an a broad range of methodologies and practices. Creating a supportive environment that fosters curiosity and development are key to the success of those especially new to the industry.
Things we’d do differently
As Redbubble continues to scale we are thinking about creating smoother pathways between our summer program and longer term employment opportunities. Providing clarity and transparency throughout the entire twelve weeks is key to giving our interns a well rounded experience that inspired confidence — in them and in us.
Our current program in Melbourne overlaps with the Christmas Holiday period, so we’ll continue to develop this timeline to account for quiet periods in the office. We will continue to explore engagement opportunities, like workshops and brown bag talks, as well as look for innovative ways for our interns to collaborate with each other too.
Progress not Perfection
While no program can be absolutely perfect, we celebrate our progress. Three years in we sure have come a long way. We have developed a program we feel proud of in large part thanks to the unwavering support and investment of our teams, and particularly each of the managers and mentors for our interns. Their commitment to seeing these interns grow, develop and succeed was everything we had promised and more.
If you are interested in being a part of our 2019–20 internship program, watch out for our application process to come out in the coming months and follow us on LinkedIn and Medium for the latest!
