Intern Perspectives: 3 ways to make an internship invaluable
An internship is a wonderful way to gain experience and insight into the working world, acting as an introduction to greater responsibility, with a range of tasks and set amount of time to address each to meet the needs of the business. While it can be tempting to put your nose to the grindstone and ignore everything outside your role as you adjust to professional life, you’ll miss out on some of the most important aspects of an internship. Really, you need balance. Here are 3 things that you can do to get the most out of your internship at Veritas Technologies: Ask for help Sometimes the solutions to your problems are a simple web search away. However, sometimes additional assistance is what you truly need. In these moments, you can and should take advantage of the incredible breadth of staff at the company – Veritas is full of engaged, helpful individuals. At the beginning of my internship, I was afraid to ask for help because I didn’t want to bother anyone. I was often able to make progress and fix things independently, but at a painfully slow pace. After a few days, I realized I couldn’t do everything by myself and asked my mentor for help. From then on, almost every time I asked for assistance he had a way to solve my problem or knew someone who did. Over the course of the internship, reaching out to others when I felt truly stuck likely saved me three or four weeks’ worth of time I would have otherwise spent troubleshooting. Learn about the business An important aspect of an internship is learning details of the business at hand. My manager told me something at the beginning of my internship that stuck with me: “There are a lot of people that are very good at the technical aspect of their jobs, but the ones who have moved up in their organizations all have a strong understanding of the business.” Even as an engineer, understanding the business is important. Appreciating the issues you’re addressing and the customers who experience them will help you tailor the software to meet their needs. If you don’t understand your customer, you may spend days writing code for a feature nobody wants. Talk to People One of my favorite things about interning at Veritas is the smart and thoughtful people. If you’re like me, you’re seeking to build professional relationships; the Veritas University team hosts engaging events where you can meet other interns and Veritas staff; from social opportunities to technical talks, you’ll have the ability to truly get to know the whole of Veritas Technologies. As a software engineer, I didn’t know much about those outside the engineering areas of the business – the daily demands of their roles, for example. To provide insight to other areas of the business, my internship group set up informational interviews with a director of program management, sales engineer, product manager, technical director, and many others. This experience was eye-opening, offering a view into the different career paths within a technology company, and an appreciation for how much work goes into designing, developing, marketing, and selling hardware and software.Intern Perspectives: Highlights from Intern Summit Week 2018
Intern Summit Week 2018 was held at the company’s Mountain View HQ from July 31 st to August 2 nd , and provided an opportunity for interns to showcase their achievements over the course of the summer. For me and my fellow Roseville-based interns, it was a chance to meet fellow interns from the Mountain View and Santa Clara offices and broaden our network within the organization. The Innovation Pod Competition The Innovation Pod Competition was a momentous highlight of Intern Summit Week 2018. In support of the program, a panel of distinguished judges, including Veritas’ David Noy, Jane Zhu, Abhijit Dey, Cameron Bahar, Geeta Pyne and Yoon Chung, witnessed a 15-minute presentation from each of the 12 CPO intern teams. The judges expressed being impressed by the caliber of the interns and their achievements, and several teams identified opportunities for future collaboration after seeing each other’s work. Given the quality of all the presentations, I resonated with Jane’s closing statement: “Everyone was truly a winner!” Executive Speaker Series and Poster Session Jyothi Swaroop, VP of Product & Solutions Marketing, was our guest for the intern executive speaker series during Intern Summit Week. He shared career planning tips with the interns, using his own experience transitioning from engineering to marketing. Jyothi noted the importance of crafting a succinct message as a core tenet of any marketing effort – timely advice considering that all the intern pods must now be giving some thought to how their ideas can be productized and “made market-ready.” Later that day, the teams’ communication and design skills were put to the test as we condensed our work into a trifold poster board and pitched to those visiting our booths. Veritas’ Greg Hughes and Mike Palmer even stopped by the poster session! Socializing during Intern Summit Week 2018 We rounded-off a memorable week celebrating our shared success with a barbeque followed by a scavenger hunt around the Mountain View campus. A couple of surprise additions included a flash mob and the “VeritOSCARS,” an event where interns nominated each other for quirky titles. I won the VeritOSCARS title, “Most likely to remind a teacher about homework.” In that spirit, let me remind my fellow interns about things they should do in their last few days at Veritas Technologies: Complete your final timesheet. Address the remaining Veritas University program checklist. And most importantly – thank everyone who made this internship a fun, memorable experience!
Intern Perspectives: Meaningful lessons from Veritas PMs
For the last two years, I was certain I wanted to be a data scientist or software engineer; to have the kind of job with a posting like, “Preferred degrees: Computer Science.” Maybe in 10 years, be a genius hacker hunched over rows, like cornfields, of green Courier. Even stand on the shoulders of Steve Jobs or Mark Zuckerburg, probably wearing the same shirt every day in pursuit of lifestyle efficiency. But then a summer passes as a part of Veritas University, and I’m wondering if I could interview for a PM position, with no MBA, sort-of-okay social skills, and a squeaky voice. All without embarrassing myself and dishonoring my family. Because this summer I met Veritas PMs Deepak, Karan, and Yoon – simply, they are incredible. Deepak was the PM for the Bee CX pod. He was so skilled at pool, he brought a cue glove to work. He wants to work in technology to change the world for the better, and taught me the theory behind choosing branching factors in corporate hierarchies. Karan was my pod’s PM for the first two weeks. He’s the sort of person who is genuinely delighted by technology, and truly aced the PM role; a lead intern, but also very quiet back-home guy. I think we split from the same thread. Yoon is a PM for Veritas Technologies. When he discovered it was one intern’s birthday, he sought a cake to celebrate her special day with two hours’ notice. And before my fellow interns and I presented for the CPO pod competition, Yoon took an extra minute to show us how to hold the mic diagonally to get strong sound. His thoughtful approach to engaging colleagues is admirable, and I hope to take on these qualities as I progress in my own career. So, while I met genius engineers across the organization and exit my Veritas University internship feeling inspired by the breadth of incredible talent at the company, I was most impressed, unexpectedly, by the people with people-centric jobs. Thank you, Veritas, for teaching me something new about the world of technology, and more so, the people who make it what it is.Intern Perspectives: What I’ve learned as a UX Designer at Veritas
Entrepreneur and startup expert, Eric Ries, defines startups as “organizations dedicated to creating something new under conditions of extreme uncertainty.” In my 9th week at Veritas, I can confirm my focus project with Veritas University readily fits Ries' definition. I’ve learned to: Be adaptive When my teammates and I first began dissecting our internship project, we were lost. The problem/solution pair felt unclear, and I remember pondering, “How should we approach the problem?” and, “Can we really deliver something within such a short period of time when we must do so from scratch?” With my academic background, it was difficult for me to answer these questions without immediately wondering if we had enough time for research. The first and most important thing I’ve realized is the importance of adaptivity; while my prior knowledge shapes my approach, it may not be applicable in an industry setting. The ideal way of eliminating the gap between the two is to combine the major takeaway and apply it to the real world. In school, we spent 7 hours creating an affinity wall workshop for the purpose analyzing interviews, but in the real world, the whole process may need to be completed in 2 hours’ time. Understanding the core benefits of a theory and adopting it wisely is essential to the success of a project. I’ve learned to: Be humble and inclusive Working with great people is another factor that has made my internship at Veritas exciting and fun. Collaborating with engineers and MBAs has enabled me to better understand varying viewpoints, and together we can ensure we pursue a well-rounded goal. Talking to mentors and other experienced UX professionals has benefited me in both design and testing. In building these relationships, I’ve realized a UX designer’s measurement of success is intrinsically user-focused; it’s all about users’ acceptance of your designs. My internship at Veritas CX has honed my ability to be more inclusive – to be curious and question the reasons behind design decisions. My favorite quote from my experience with Veritas University supports ongoing curiosity, too: “I know you are resilient because you are a designer.” Curiosity is forever! I’ve learned to: Be bold and innovative When it comes to enterprise application design, people often choose to stay safe. I have to admit I did the same before my internship with Veritas. We were told interns could drive their projects, though in my first designs I played it safe. The senior management were supportive throughout the design review process, but thoughtfully pushed me to strive for a bolder outcome. Making bold moves invites uncertainty – something wonderfully accessible as an intern with Veritas University. I’ve realized the value in testing bold ideas; if it fails, move on to the next. I am grateful I chose an internship with Veritas University. In the program, I work on a project that allows me to think out of the box and enjoy flexibility. I’m especially thankful to work with great people at CX and the feedback they’ve provided. I treasure the “three be” methodology learned, as well as the sweet memories created among my project team, creating something incredible together.
Intern Perspectives: The unexpected tie between my internship with Veritas and foosball
Over the past few weeks, I have been playing foosball with my Veritas University internship team; or more appropriately, I have been learning how to play foosball. Admittedly, I am one of the weakest links within the group, along with my team mate, Joe. But again, we’re learning. I’d never played foosball before joining the Veritas University internship program, and when we first joined forces, Joe and I practiced a lot. We needed to. We’ve slowly improved, playing Rahul and Wyatt, daily. Up until recently, we nearly always lost to them, and sometimes badly. But again – learning. It seemed like one day the tide shifted; our effort was paying off. Suddenly, we were dominating the table and won the majority of the games from then on. Within our Veritas University team, we were the best. Then today we reached outside our team and played some of the UX interns – we got our butts kicked. We played three games. By the close of the third game we started doing a bit better, but still the loss was impending. We’d fallen from a top our throne of foosball greatness, and we were humbled. Foosball and my Veritas internship My foosball experience perfectly sums up my time at Veritas. Every day I’ve learned something new or hit a personal milestone, only to reach past it and realize I still have so much to learn. Being surrounded by so many brilliant people and challenging problems at Veritas has inspired rapid growth. I came to Veritas nervous about working in Silicon Valley. I thought I was a decent engineer and leader – and in my bubble, I was. But when I extended beyond my comfort zone at Veritas, I got my butt kicked. At Veritas, I’ve never been the best engineer or leader in the building. I brought my “A game,” of course, and learned from the mistakes of yesterday, but still, there has always been someone better. Learning at Veritas – a cross-company effort The best thing about losing at the foosball tables was the interactions after the loss; those who beat us often lent a tip on improving. And you could observe and learn the tricks or maneuvers that made them great at the game, too. This approach applies to our work in the Veritas office, as well. Veritas’ senior engineers have dedicated ample time to demonstrating how to out-maneuver those sneaky bugs in our code and be better engineers. The UR team, MBAs, and Veritas leadership always seem to have a compelling lesson to teach. Whenever I’ve made a mistake or couldn’t get something to function, there has been a lesson to be learned that helped me improve as a professional. I’m grateful for the opportunities Veritas has afforded in the Veritas University internship program. And all of these foosball losses and engineering hurdles? I realize each is a learning opportunity accumulating in one big win. I’m ready to use the skills I’ve gained at Veritas to take on my next opponent in life, whatever that may be. #LifeAtVeritas #TeamVtas #VtasNextGen
