This post is by Jessica Jong, an Employee Communications Intern at Informatica’s Redwood City HQ office. Jessica is a rising senior at Santa Clara University where she studies Communications. When she is not working at Informatica, you can find her spending time with friends, searching for a new book to read, or eating good food.
As my internship nears its end, I’ve thought long and hard about the goodbyes that I will have to say. This summer has flown by, and I won’t forget the laughter, new friendships, and lessons learned.
While I feel sad to leave Informatica, I’ll look back on my time here fondly. In particular, I will remember these key things about interning at Informatica:
- THE People
Work culture is important. At least, that’s what every TedTalk I’ve watched in class has told me. Working at Informatica has helped me experience this firsthand; the culture here has made all the difference in my internship experience.
Steve Jobs once said, “Your work is going to fill a large part of your life, and the only way to be truly satisfied is to do what you believe is great work. And the only way to do great work is to love what you do.”
Part of loving what you do is influenced by the people you do these things with. A company can have an amazing name, an established brand, and incredible revenue, but it is nothing without the employees that make up the company. The people here are what made this internship experience stand out from others.
At the end of the day, it isn’t the product or the company perks that I will miss. It will be the teams and individuals I have been privileged to work with. The intern class of 2015, in particular, has been amazing. We have built friendships that will extend beyond our time at Informatica.
- THE Work
You hear horror stories about the business intern, whose sole job is to fetch coffee and do meaningless grunt work. I will always remember the summer I interned for a company that trusted my peers and me to take on our own projects. Interns are not always included in important discussions; they are not always considered equal to full time employees.
Yet, here at Informatica, I’ve heard time and time again from other interns how surprising it is that they are doing meaningful work. The trust our teams gave to us, the meaningful work they assigned, and the contributions we were allowed to make won’t be forgotten.
- THE Mistakes and the Opportunities
I will remember the fear I felt on my first day, the excitement of orientation, and the time I made coffee in the office (for the first time) and completely botched it. I will remember the endless opportunities to learn and hear from executives and team members.
I will leave Informatica better equipped for the real world because of the opportunities I have had to grow.
So, to anyone considering Informatica for an internship, go for it. (Or, in the words of Nike, “Just do it!”) The people here are amazing. You will learn a lot and make great memories in the process.
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