Throughout Cisco, a whole lot of groups host interns in each perform of the enterprise. Internships assist entice early-in-career expertise that carry new abilities and variety to the workforce. Cisco has a devoted group – the Early Expertise Recruiting workforce – that serves as a world recruiting engine to assist managers discover and rent interns. The workforce drives finest practices throughout the corporate, leads intern onboarding, and hosts skilled development occasions. With a robust monitor file for changing interns to full-time roles, Cisco is a vacation spot for interns throughout the globe.
To rejoice Nationwide Intern Day, we talked to some individuals who went via Cisco’s internship program and are on the trail to very brilliant futures. Right here’s Charlie’s story:
Teamwork Makes the Dream Work: One Summer time Intern’s Journey
Charlie Wenig spent the summer time as the one intern on the CX Americas Communications workforce. She was excited concerning the alternative however wasn’t certain what to anticipate or what company communications entailed. As a rising senior from Syracuse College majoring in Journal Journalism and Info Expertise, the chance to work with communications professionals appeared like one.
“[I] didn’t know tons about company communications and particularly inside communications,” mentioned Charlie. “Becoming a member of a workforce with broad outreach in such a big firm has been eye-opening to see how that work carries throughout all of the channels, and that has been nice.”
Over the course of the internship, she found that the workforce’s work spanned many areas, and he or she jumped proper in. She started writing, turned accustomed to how large-scale conferences are run on WebEx, and labored to make content material compelling, partaking, and even enjoyable. Charlie contributed to worker engagement occasions by creating an internet quiz for workforce members to rejoice Asian American, Pacific Islander, Haitian, and Jewish Heritage Month and really helpful a digital parade as part of a Pleasure Month celebration.
“I discovered this to be extra attention-grabbing than the ‘boots-on-the-ground’ interviewing individuals within the rain I used to be imagining,” mentioned Charlie.
The CX Americas Communications workforce Charlie interned with helps maintain the group knowledgeable about enterprise priorities and technique, offers government communications assist for management, and drives worker engagement.
She was additionally shocked at how tightly knit her workforce was and the way intently everybody labored collectively. An instance she shared was having the ability to lean on different teammates who have been extra skilled with utilizing Photoshop for design and be taught from that within the course of. Via the summer time, she shadowed workforce members engaged on buyer tales, discovered about podcast manufacturing, and the right way to host occasions. She discovered every workforce member’s strengths and the place to go for assist with particular questions.
“At school with COVID, there wasn’t quite a lot of collaborative work, and these previous three years at school [there] was quite a lot of impartial work, [so I] beloved working with this workforce that was artistic, supportive, and heat.”
She considers studying the right way to talk and work as a workforce to boost visibility for CX Americas for inside and exterior audiences to be the best takeaway from her internship expertise.
After 12 weeks with CX Americas, Charlie’s determined that company communications is a path she desires to proceed. “In school, I actually discovered this attention-grabbing steadiness between tech and writing,” mentioned Charlie. “This chance created a primary stepping stone.”
Whereas she was the one intern in her group, Charlie found she was certainly one of 1,700 interns throughout Cisco this summer time. She was immersed with an intensive community of interns by way of WebEx and attended group periods with the cohort. It’s a program designed to nurture younger expertise, whether or not they come to Cisco or go elsewhere for his or her first job out of faculty. Cisco usually hires interns on the finish of summer time, and people returning to highschool generally return for a second summer time function.
When she returns to Syracuse College this fall, she’s going to tackle the function of Editor-in-chief of College Woman journal, which can contain numerous writing and creativity – each issues that Charlie loves.
“Initially of school my dream job was to work in publishing, however after this program I discover myself leaning in the direction of communications and know-how,” mentioned Charlie.
Charlie encourages these in search of internships to provide all potential internship alternatives an opportunity – even these you won’t be fully certain about – because it isn’t potential to know all of what an internship will contain beforehand.
“There are alternatives to find out about your self and the sector you might be getting into, even when initially you initially wished one thing completely different,” Charlie mentioned, noting that location, distant or digital, and different features of the function aren’t at all times crucial issues.
Charlie’s recommendation for interns:
Think about all alternatives
Deal with the function over the placement or work association
Take an opportunity on one thing new
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