Peer Career Consultant Blogs

Whether you are playing sports, flourishing in academia, or succeeding in internships and your career at large, to obtain constant growth, you must be coachable. In other words, you must have the ability to listen intently when feedback is given and have the humility and willingness to adapt your approach.

I’ve realized that intellect alone will not prepare you for the complex corporate journey ahead. Beyond the work itself, there is an abundance of moving parts, relationships, and intricacies that are a part of working in the corporate setting. Thus, as an early career professional, it is helpful to have mentors that can guide you along the way and course correct when necessary. Personally, this summer exemplified the power of implementing feedback in a timely and collaborative manner.

Over the summer, I was a Google BOLD APMM intern working alongside YouTube’s Core Viewer - Responsibility team. As an intern, the essence of my project was to formulate and lead qualitative research to identify audiences that would be most receptive to YouTube’s Media Literacy Campaign for 2023 while uncovering insights that would inform future iterations of our responsibility efforts. A core objective for this campaign was to reach and educate 1 billion internet users, and the capstone of my project was to present my findings to YouTube’s CMO, as well as several other VPs. Coming into YouTube as an intern working on a project with this much scale and impact was both motivating and intimidating, especially since this was my first product marketing role.

As I progressed through the project submitting deliverables, discussing ideas with my manager, presenting early hypotheses to my team, and setting up 1on1s with team members and other YouTube employees to walk through my thinking, I had various opportunities to build much-needed context on the goals and limitations of my project to more effectively formulate solutions. With the support of my team and my emphasis on seeking feedback to enhance the quality of my work, we were able to earn approval at several stages of my project, massaging any obstacles we ran into along the way. 

When it came time for the midpoint and final performance evaluations from my manager and co-host, I was pleased to hear that I was exceeding expectations and moving along the product marketing learning curve with flying colors. My team and I were able to work so well together because I made it easy for them to communicate concerns, and I ensured that I followed up and followed through on their comments to illustrate my commitment to team success. By entering this internship with a growth mindset and treating my project like a learning opportunity instead of a resume highlight, I was able to accomplish the objectives of my project, foster friendships with industry experts, and ultimately receive a full-time return offer for post-graduation. But I couldn’t have done it without the support and guidance of my mentors, and that is what makes the power of feedback truly invaluable.