What I Learned During My Summer Internship

This summer, I had the privilege of interning (virtually) at the Atlanta based "all in one marketing platform for small businesses", Mailchimp! The culture and people I was exposed to during my time taught me many things beyond the technical and creative skills I acquired. Working in tech for the first time on a highly cross-functional team exposed me to the following takeaways:

1) Listening is learning- be a sponge!

As an extrovert who feels the need to always be "saying" something to prove my worth, I was surprised at how much I learned simply from listening. Sitting in on meetings was the number one way I was able to absorb information about how our team communicates and completes initiatives. Now, I can confidently say that speaking isn't required to prove productivity. When I have a lot to learn in future roles, I will take the approach of being a sponge!

2) Questions are for curiosity AND clarity!

I used to be intimidated by asking questions for any other reason than to receive clarity. I didn't want to "bother" the people around me by asking questions out of curiosity. However, this internship taught me that it is crucial to ask questions about things you are curious about. I was able to engage more effectively when I had my curious questions answered!

3) Thank you goes a long way.

When you are an intern, there are so many people helping you along the way to become acquainted with your duties. Thanking those who took the time to help me become familiar with the team's functionality was something I found to be important during my time.

4) Breaks fuel creativity.

In today's virtual working world, computer fatigue is very real. The culture at Mailchimp reinforced the idea that performing well does not equate working in front of the computer non-stop. Whenever I felt stuck on a task or was facing Zoom exhaustion, I took a break to refuel, whether that be going for a walk or listening to a podcast, and came back feeling refreshed. Something I admire about many emerging tech companies is their flexible work model that encourages employees to take the time they need to rest, recharge, and reset.

5) Don’t be afraid to try something new!

As cliché as it sounds, you can not be afraid to try new things at work, especially as an intern. I had to realize that I am at the very beginning stages of my career where I honestly don't know how to do a lot of things- and that's ok! I learned to reframe my mindset of being discouraged by "I don't know how to do this" to "I can't do this- YET!"

Overall, I am extremely grateful for the lessons I learned in three short months. I know I have only scratched the surface in my professional learning journey and look forward to returning to my role for another three months this Fall!