Ann Waldo: Two Major Lessons Internships Have Taught Me
Over the past two summers, I had the incredible opportunity to learn in two very different industries, gaining diverse experiences that have shaped my professional development. The first was as a Retail Management Intern at Nordstrom, where I learned the intricacies of retailing during the famous Nordstrom Anniversary Sale. The internship involved managing inventory, overseeing a large team, optimizing floor schematics, and prioritizing customer service. The second was as an HDD (Hard Disk Drive) Marketing & Business Planning Intern at Toshiba America Electronic Components, Inc. (TAEC) in San Jose. At TAEC, I delved into the world of B2B marketing, honed my Excel skills, and gained exposure to international business in a legacy company leading the HDD industry.
From these internships, I’ve learned two key lessons about the importance of commitment, teamwork, self-advocacy, leadership, and networking. As I near graduation this spring, I want to reflect on how these experiences have prepared me for the next chapter in my career.
Take the time to get to know your team (really!): During the course of both of my internships, I had absolutely wonderful experiences working with my respective teams. Whether that be my direct boss, fellow intern(s), or other leaders within the companies, my coworkers became friends and people who I look up to. It is very important to do a good job and stay focused, but also to take the time to stop and “smell the roses”. These are the people you spend all day with at work, and you’ll be surprised about how much you learn about life and yourself. Understanding my team helped me to be a better, more compassionate leader at Nordstrom and TAEC. Some of my favorite memories at my internships were the moments I’d take a minute and learn about my bosses’ career paths or just learn more about their hobbies and interests. Some of the best advice I have received was from them, and I’ll always have so much gratitude for their time. I even ran into an old coworker at Trader Joe’s, and I’ll never forget the squeals we let out before we hugged and caught up about life.
Ask questions, no question is a “bad” one: I know this may come across as cliche, but asking questions to your direct internship mentor or boss is really important to learn all the necessary skills/insights to do well in your given industry. When I started at TAEC, there was a lot I needed to learn about Hard Disk Drives and how the industry operates–it was all so vastly new to me. My fellow intern and I would set up times to meet with different TAEC executives to understand different reasons as to why certain HDDs perform better than others, the impact of COVID-19 on their business unit, and to get access to certain data necessary to complete our project and different trends based on countries in the Americas. No one ever said no or gave us any issue. In reality, everyone was enthusiastic to meet and answer our questions. Without the help of these TAEC executives, we never would have been able to piece together the beautiful “puzzle” that was our final intern project. All of this is to say that once you learn how to ask questions (especially in terms of who would be most helpful in answering them), you will uncover a lot of knowledge to guide you not just in your internship, but into your future career.