I know what you're imagining: open spaces with fun gadgets lying around, people in their sweatpants standing over mobile desks, and an office that looks more like a living room.
And that's pretty much what I saw everyday as the elevator door opened up into SeamlessDocs. (Except for the sweatpants, because we're talking about New York City, here. Come on now.)
Working at a tech startup in the Soho/Tribeca neighborhood of New York City was exactly as it sounds in a lot of ways. I was surrounded by young professionals--some recent college graduates--whose job was to be tech savvy. (Compared to my friend interning at an accounting firm where she had to help them find the computer mouse on the screen...) The attire was whatever you felt comfortable in, and during breaks, people would play each other in foosball.
But before this starts to sound like vacation with time to practice ping pong skills (oh yeah! There was also a ping pong table), I want to highlight the aspects of interning at a startup that make it a great place to beginning your internship experience.
And that's pretty much what I saw everyday as the elevator door opened up into SeamlessDocs. (Except for the sweatpants, because we're talking about New York City, here. Come on now.)
Working at a tech startup in the Soho/Tribeca neighborhood of New York City was exactly as it sounds in a lot of ways. I was surrounded by young professionals--some recent college graduates--whose job was to be tech savvy. (Compared to my friend interning at an accounting firm where she had to help them find the computer mouse on the screen...) The attire was whatever you felt comfortable in, and during breaks, people would play each other in foosball.
But before this starts to sound like vacation with time to practice ping pong skills (oh yeah! There was also a ping pong table), I want to highlight the aspects of interning at a startup that make it a great place to beginning your internship experience.
The sheer number
It's now a joke that anyone can start a startup. They're coming up everywhere - especially on the college campus - and now larger corporations, governments, and even colleges are open to supporting their creativity.
Due to their smaller staff and developing activity, startups can always use an intern to lessen the load. And with the multitude of startups in the biz looking for (usually unpaid) help, it's a relatively easier way to gain experience working in a field that you're interested in.
An open space
The CEO isn't sitting in a glass office with a beautiful view while everyone else works down the hall in their cubicles. Everyone works in the same space. Everyday, I could hear the sales team giving their pitches to clients; I could learn about projects other team members were working on; or I could peer over my desk to ask if anyone needed help with something.
Beyond the physical setup of the office, everyone was just really open to answering our questions or to creating projects for us. We were freely helping out different people and working on projects that ranged from e-mail marketing, to making infographics for targeted marketing projects, to working on projects for the staff.
A good/bad thing from this open arrangement of the office meant that I couldn't goof off a lot. (Well, I honestly didn't WANT to goof off while everyone was working hard on calls, deals, and projects all around me!) Regardless, the office setup and staff encouraged me to learn, to ask for work, and to feel more like a part of the team.
Beyond the physical setup of the office, everyone was just really open to answering our questions or to creating projects for us. We were freely helping out different people and working on projects that ranged from e-mail marketing, to making infographics for targeted marketing projects, to working on projects for the staff.
A good/bad thing from this open arrangement of the office meant that I couldn't goof off a lot. (Well, I honestly didn't WANT to goof off while everyone was working hard on calls, deals, and projects all around me!) Regardless, the office setup and staff encouraged me to learn, to ask for work, and to feel more like a part of the team.
Creating a useful experience
The most value aspect of working at SeamlessDocs is the interest they had in our success. From the moment I walked in the door of SeamlessDocs to my last day on the job, the CEO wanted us to gain something from the experience.
SeamlessDocs' original goal for its interns was to teach us a different aspect of marketing or assign us a project each week. In the beginning of the internship, this involved learning sessions with employees and targeted marketing assignments that were implemented with their clients. Even as the summer became more hectic and the structured plan began to break down, my fellow interns and I always had something to do. Our amazing immediate supervisor always made sure that we were busy and doing well.
Also, I'm proud to announce that I did not go on one lunch/coffee run during the three months that I was at SeamlessDocs. Any "intern" task I did, I volunteered to do myself, which is what happens when people treat you well - you want to return the favor.
My favorite part, though, was our last day on the job. The team at SeamlessDocs didn't let us leave with a few words of wisdom (granted, it was after we made fools of ourselves doing skits. I think they wanted to exercise just a liiiittle bit of power before we left...). Their experience ranged from just graduated to working for many years, but they all had something valuable to say.
Afterwards, our immediate supervisor worked with us to create recommendation letters and compile all the projects we had worked on to use for future career purposes. (Want to see a video we scripted? Click here!)
Overall, the amount of engagement, guidance, and support I received from my internship at SeamlessDocs is something that I'm extremely grateful for. Even though I know that my future internships probably won't be like this, (unless I go back to SeamlessDocs..!) the experience taught how to be a good intern, how to be a better one, and what I should do with the experiences I had.
Thanks for reading!
Nina Joung
Class of 2018
SeamlessDocs' original goal for its interns was to teach us a different aspect of marketing or assign us a project each week. In the beginning of the internship, this involved learning sessions with employees and targeted marketing assignments that were implemented with their clients. Even as the summer became more hectic and the structured plan began to break down, my fellow interns and I always had something to do. Our amazing immediate supervisor always made sure that we were busy and doing well.
Also, I'm proud to announce that I did not go on one lunch/coffee run during the three months that I was at SeamlessDocs. Any "intern" task I did, I volunteered to do myself, which is what happens when people treat you well - you want to return the favor.
Helping us beyond
What amazed me even further was when during his minuscule moments of a semblance of free time, the CEO would gather the interns for a mini lesson or project. These mini lessons were lessons he'd learned from his experiences in business and ranged from a successful mindset ("Focus + Persistence = Anything you want") and marketing/business concepts (having frameworks to build on, attention to detail, etc.) The startup environment is probably one of the only places where the CEO will take time to talk to you more than just at the beginning or end of the internship.My favorite part, though, was our last day on the job. The team at SeamlessDocs didn't let us leave with a few words of wisdom (granted, it was after we made fools of ourselves doing skits. I think they wanted to exercise just a liiiittle bit of power before we left...). Their experience ranged from just graduated to working for many years, but they all had something valuable to say.
Afterwards, our immediate supervisor worked with us to create recommendation letters and compile all the projects we had worked on to use for future career purposes. (Want to see a video we scripted? Click here!)
Overall, the amount of engagement, guidance, and support I received from my internship at SeamlessDocs is something that I'm extremely grateful for. Even though I know that my future internships probably won't be like this, (unless I go back to SeamlessDocs..!) the experience taught how to be a good intern, how to be a better one, and what I should do with the experiences I had.
Thanks for reading!
Nina Joung
Class of 2018
