By: Ayesha Pandey, BS’22
This summer, I was a marketing and sales intern at TechPoint. The program that I took part in was called the TechPoint Summer Opportunities for Students (S.O.S) Challenge.
I applied for this opportunity online, through a post that one of my Kelley professors reshared on LinkedIn. The application process was fairly straightforward and simple: The experience was designed for students who had lost their internships due to COVID-19.
TechPoint is a non-profit organization based in Indianapolis that brings together Indiana’s tech companies, universities, philanthropies and government bodies.
In this program, teams were asked to prepare a product prototype and go-to-market plan to help address solutions to COVID-related problems or to find solutions that could create new opportunities. Currently, the COVID-19 problem that our team was focused on was the telehealth industry.
The internship was conducted virtually and utilized video-conferencing platforms like Zoom and Microsoft Teams. We worked on projects together using platforms like Google Drives and Dev Post. This internship was project-based, making the work environment extremely collaborative. During the course of the internship, we also had weekly networking events that helped give us insight into the industry and connect with professionals virtually.
By the end of five weeks, our team developed an app that would help patients create a heart-healthy lifestyle in tandem with fulfilling their basic telehealth needs.
It was extremely rewarding to see the impact of the Kelley classes that I had taken and to see how I was able to apply knowledge that I learned in the classroom to my internship. For example, the financial and managerial accounting classes that I had taken helped me to develop and assign values to a revenue cost model for our app. Additionally, the introductory business classes I took helped me develop a better understanding of the business environment.
Through this internship, I had the unique opportunity to collaborate with STEM students and gain an insight into the tech industry. I had the opportunity to develop and strengthen my soft skills such as leadership, communication and teamwork, and I also gained technical skills in business analytics, marketing, sales and finance.
Although virtual internships may seem daunting, they are now the new normal! They offer an opportunity for valuable work experience and are a great way to build connections.
I encourage all students to be involved and self-motivated: Apply for internships, connect with professionals via LinkedIn, meet with resume review coaches, use the Kelley Indianapolis Careers Office and attend career fairs (virtual, this year!). Although it may seem hard to secure an internship, if you start applying early and make use of all of your available resources, you definitely have a shot at being an intern at your dream company!
Posted By: Ayesha Pandey, BS’22