The finale

12 weeks….it is indeed amazing how time flies.  In 12 weeks the sun has risen and set 84 times, new friends have been made and colleagues have left the company.

My final presentation  to the team is on Tuesday. Here I will brief my team on the three projects I completed, giving a synopsis and producing a transition document.  My presentation will also include a list of thank yous to various individuals without whom  I would not have  been able to get up to speed.

As I reflect on my internship, I feel this has been a very eventful journey – working in the tech industry has made me appreciate the culture, the work –life balance and also the kinds of work available if you are not a hardware/software engineer.  Exposure to the job fluidity within the industry is also a nice experience……a lot of Creative Destruction taking place in the valley – exit opportunities and entry opportunities are many. I have improved several skillsets – presentation and analytical among them.

Having more fun while it lasts….is what I would encourage everyone to do so.  You will not realize how time flies. I started attending the bay area Ross Intern meet ups held every weekend and it was fabulous.  We all had similar experiences across firms/companies.  We are all also hoping that we get offers for full time positions but getting full time offers depends on several things at once – head count projections, internship performance, reviews etc.  I also recommend building your network within the company and with fellow interns in other companies as it will help improve your general knowledge about the tech industry.    Also it is important to participate in intra company events, so that you are able to greater appreciate the culture of the company.

My final notes: Work diligently, Network Broadly and Appreciate fully!

Social is the way to go!

Being social is the way to go…..interns at my sponsor company network regularly not just with each other but with Senior Leaders from within the company. This helps with building networks across the length and breadth of the company.

However, most individuals work in cross functional roles, requiring one to connect with different teams to get work done. This “cross functional” aspect of every job role helps one develop the network one needs to explore other opportunities further down into their career.

Interns from different schools also come together at carnivals and various MBA oriented networking meeting s specifically organized for MBAs to get to know each other. Besides this, the interns have formed special networking groups on Linked in, Facebook and other social networking sites. This encourages interaction long after one has moved on to other opportunities.

Typical days  start with most employees taking  a ride on the company’s shuttle to the office.  These busses are green and help lower environmental costs down.  I  found an interesting article in the NY times on the shuttle service. You can read it here.

Typical days are divided into working on business as usual work and ad hoc projects.

Business as usual work involves meeting  and interacting with ones manager and other team members on your routine work: this could be  developing analyses, research output, coding or developing reports for business.

Ad Hoc projects are more strategic,  short term in nature and more cross functional in orientation.  Meetings are regularly conducted via Google Hangouts or working lunches. This avoids the travel but saves time and allows the team to focus on critical tasks.

The days also include dining at one of the several cafes on campus, biking to a meeting at another business location and jogging on campus. Google’s work culture is legendary. I found an interesting article on the culture in the Time of India. You can read it here.

Alumni of several international and national schools work at Google and the cafes are also a nice place to interact with them and build your global network.

Time to go for now but be tuned for my next post on my observations on the tech industry as  a whole.