What My First Internship at a Large Tech Company Taught Me

“Some things cannot be taught; they must be experienced. You never learn the most valuable lessons in life until you go through your own journey.”
― Roy T. Bennett

It was my first corporate experience, and to say I was nervous would be the understatement of the century.

The company I applied for is an international tech giant, and I was honestly surprised when I received an e-mail confirming my acceptance into their summer internship program. I knew that this would be my busiest summer yet, and I was nervous yet excited to finally start “adulting”. The program started from May and lasted till the end of August. It was your typical 40-hour week schedule from 9–5, and it was a 20-minute commute, so it was relatively close to where I lived.

I must admit, I have never felt more inadequate when all the interns were introducing themselves during the welcoming ceremony. We had to state our name, what school we are attending/attended, major, and our interests. All I heard were non-stop Ivy League and prestigious schools being named, and of course, when it was my turn, I sheepishly mentioned my state university and proceeded to turn my brain off to hide from the embarrassment.

All jokes aside, I realized I was no longer in the little leagues, and I knew this internship would be a rewarding experience for me.

I was assigned to the marketing department, specifically under the sponsorship & event planning team. My managers’ responsibilities revolved around setting up major events (concerts, professional sports games, trade shows, etc.), as well as working with the company’s multiple partners and sponsors. Our team frequently worked alongside a third-party advertising agency, so we would have meetings almost every day to discuss ongoing and upcoming events. I would always bring my notepad to every meeting, jotting down anything that was said.

You never know what kind of information you may need in the future, so do not try to differentiate what is important and what isn’t when taking notes!

I should mention that I was pretty much starting from scratch, having no prior experience in an office environment, and being a complete novice when it came to programs such as Excel. Going into the internship, I was worried that my managers would find me unqualified for the position, but those thoughts were quickly thrown out the window.

One of the first things I noticed was how helpful my managers were, whether it was teaching me about unfamiliar programs and business terms, or just simply getting me to feel comfortable at the office. I was definitely ashamed that I had to ask one of my managers on how to use certain basic functions on Excel, but he took his time to explain what I needed to know thoroughly. I realized that as an intern, it was my job to soak up all the information I could in the next few months.

My manager said this to me on my first day:

Ask as many questions as you need to, no matter how simple. This experience is solely for you to learn how we operate, and regardless if you choose to work here or not, there is no harm in learning something new.

While current employees can be of tremendous help, I actually learned a lot from my fellow interns as well. Seeing as you are surrounded by other students with similar interests but from different backgrounds, it opens up opportunities to learn from one another. Two of the interns I sat next to were passionate about the stock market, and so they hooked me into the glorious world of investing. To this day, I still trade stocks (somewhat successfully) and I have no one else to thank but my two buddies from the internship.

I’m sure every company is different, but I was not expecting to have so much downtime at such a large company. At first, I just assumed it was because I was an intern (a total noobie at that, too!), so I wasn’t given too much work. However, after chatting with various employees, the advice they gave all had a recurring theme: just pretend to work, even if you’re not actually working. It took me by surprise that they were being so honest, but it did make me feel better about finishing a project early and sitting there twiddling my thumbs waiting for my next assignment.

To anyone who is about to start a new internship or job, being nervous or anxious is totally normal. Trying anything new can be daunting, but we all know that gaining the experience is what matters, whether you end up enjoying it or not. If there’s one piece of knowledge I can take away from my internship experience, it is that people are willing to help you if you put in the effort to learn and ultimately grow. Maybe I was put in a lucky situation where my co-workers and bosses were very friendly, but there will always be those who are more than happy to help if you just ask.

Those three months allowed me to be more confident in myself and provided me with the necessary tools to grow as a person and an employee.

“Experience is what you get when you didn’t get what you wanted. And experience is often the most valuable thing you have to offer.”
― Randy Pausch, The Last Lecture