The end:
Tips for Silicon Valley’s next batch of interns
It’s always been a dream of mine to intern in the glorious Silicon Valley and this summer I literally lived my dream. I remember when I first accepted my offer, I spent the next couple of months reading articles and watching videos of stories from past interns, trying to familiarize myself with everything I was about to experience. Now I’m excited to be on the other side, sharing my experiences and giving you advice on how to excel during your time in the Bay Area. I spent my summer at Google on the Social Team and I learned so much from the work I did and the people I met.
Go to the events and meet people.
There are so many networking events and tech talks here, like literally every night! Sometimes the company you’re at will host something for you guys, sometimes other companies will have events for all the interns, and sometimes there are even just general get togethers you can find on Meetup or Eventbrite. Don’t just meet people but have a genuine interest in them. I absolutely loved meeting new people and was so interested in where they came from and what they were working on. I didn’t really see it as “networking”, more like making new friends.
Ask questions.
You’re an intern, you aren’t supposed to know everything. Your managers and the rest of the people on your team love when you’re curious and have questions. They’d rather have you ask and do it right than guess and mess the whole thing up completely. Don’t be shy.
Work on projects you want to work on.
It’s okay to say that a project isn’t a good fit. It’s also okay to reach out and look for projects that you think you’d really want to work on! One of the other interns on Social, Fiona, reached out to the Google Doodle team and was able to work on something completely different. She was able to actually create a Google Doodle!
by Fiona Yeung
Reach out to people.
I met with over 100 people this summer, not just at Google but from other companies as well. Interns think that these big time people are too busy to talk to us, well it might be true, but everyone has time for lunch! They love answering our questions and sharing the knowledge they gained over the years. Some people I was able to speak with were Evan Sharp (Pinterest), Margaret Stewart (Facebook), Mike Kruzeniski (Twitter), and much more. I’ve looked up to these people for so long so it was such a good feeling to ask them for advice and guidance as I’m about to make some hard decisions. Take advantage of this opportunity to be surrounded by so many smart and experienced people. Here’s a post about all the people I met.
Margaret Gould Stewart
Set goals.
I had some pretty crazy goals this summer, ask my managers! I wanted to actually launch a product and even present at the whole Social Product Area All-hands meeting! I had about 5 goals I was really striving for and I completely knocked them all out of the park! Talk with your mentor and manager about some big goals but also make them realistic.
Ask for feedback.
I’m a strong believer in feedback. Meet with your manager and mentor at least once a week and ask them for feedback. Feedback can help you grow and let you know from someone else’s perspective how you’re really doing. Ask your fellow interns for feedback too and it can be anything from the work you’re doing to your attitude in the office.
Make best friends.
One of the reasons I really enjoyed my summer here was because I had some pretty awesome people to spend it with. You’re probably going to come back here after school so aside from making some awesome connections, try to make some really close homies too. It’s going to be fun growing up here in Silicon Valley so get used to people you meet here because you’ll be spending a lot of time with them in the near future.
I learned so much these past 14 weeks. More in 3 months than the past 20 years combined. It’s hard to say and explain what I learned but I can definitely tell from the way I talk to people and even during my conversion interviews the other day, the way my brain works has deifnitely changed.
Hopefully these tips help you out. If you need more specific advice or just want to chat, feel free to reach out to me at andretacuyan@gmail.com or tweet at me at @andretacuyan.
Now I’m about to get on a flight back to Seattle. Like I said, I literally can’t believe this dream is over. These were the best days of my life and I’m never going to forget everything I experienced here. Thanks so much. The end.
Check this post out on LinkedIn.
