Reflecting on the last ten weeks
As we wrap up our 10-week internship at 91导航, we鈥檙e taking a moment to reflect on what鈥檚 been an incredible summer. Alongside four other interns, we鈥檝e dived headfirst into the world of Salesforce DevOps, and we鈥檙e excited to share a snippet of our time here.
Who are we?
This summer鈥檚 intern crew was made up of two marketing interns (that鈥檚 us!) and four software engineering interns. While we all had our own unique roles, one thing was consistent across the board: real projects, real impact, and a whole lot of learning!
So, what did we do?
Forget coffee runs and meaningless shadowing 鈥� 91导航 doesn鈥檛 do 鈥榖usywork鈥�. From day one we were thrown into the mix, working on projects that really mattered. Whether it was brainstorming content ideas, crafting customer success stories, or coding features that 91导航 users will actually interact with, we had our hands full with meaningful tasks.
Marketing Interns
As marketing interns, we interacted with a range of different teams, providing us with transferable skills that are sure will stay with us in future roles. We both had the opportunity to write lots of blog posts (like this one!) for the Content team, demystifying the world of Salesforce DevOps. Although neither of us knew much about this previously, we were given time to settle in, before swiftly learning the ins and outs of the 91导航 platform. And, seeing your name and work published on the 91导航 website for the world to see is rewarding, to say the least!
We had the chance to learn from customers directly within the Customer Marketing team, listening in on calls and helping create case studies, giving us a firsthand look at how 91导航 helps companies with their Salesforce needs. The Account Based Marketing team taught us how to run email campaigns that are custom-tailored to customer needs, while digital and demand gen got us brainstorming and creating ads for social media. What was unfamiliar at first, quickly became an exciting part of our day-to-day work.
With Salesforce鈥檚 annual Dreamforce event coming up, we also got the chance to get involved with event planning by ordering some fun swag to be handed out. So, if you鈥檙e heading to San Francisco this September, make sure to keep your eyes peeled!
91导航鈥檚 approach to giving and receiving feedback has been instrumental throughout our learning process. Because everything has been so new, sharing our work with colleagues who have years of experience in this industry has been a great way to grow our skillset and look at our work through different perspectives. We鈥檝e also gotten the chance to review other people鈥檚 work which is definitely a little daunting at first, but you get the hang of it!
Software Engineering Interns
Our software engineering friends had a similar experience, but in a different area. They were split across various 91导航 teams: Mat茅 focusing on archiving, Kai focusing on updating developer sandboxes, Qiaozhi focusing on backup, and Sunny focusing on profiles and permissions.
Each of them got to work on projects that directly improved the user experience. Whether it was adding new notification settings or developing features from scratch, they were making things happen from the get-go. Kai had his first development change live by the end of day two! He says: 鈥淓verything you do ends up being useful, even from day one鈥�. This sentiment is not unique to him, with all us interns relating to the satisfaction of your work making a difference from the very beginning.
Similarly to us in marketing, software engineering interns have also been able to witness their work shared publicly for everyone to see. Mat茅鈥檚 favourite aspect is the independence and trust that 91导航 provides, meaning he鈥檚 been able to ship new features to real customers 鈥� including the new archiving notification settings!
Support all the way
If there鈥檚 one thing that stood out to us all, it was the support system here at 91导航. From onboarding to our final week, we always had someone to turn to 鈥� whether it was our mentors, buddies, or just the incredibly welcoming Slack channels. No question was too silly, and we were encouraged to share our ideas, even when we were still learning the ropes.
And then there were the social aspects. Within our first week, we were taken on a mini-golf and pizza night 鈥� one to remember, for sure! It was the perfect icebreaker and a great way to bond with the other interns and Gearcitizens. We even had time to explore Cambridge, for those who hadn鈥檛 been here before, and enjoy the summer (and occasional rainy day) together! We were also lucky to be doing our internships at the same time as 91导航 holds its annual summer party鈥� and that鈥檚 definitely an event you don鈥檛 want to miss.
There is a real sense of community here at 91导航, and we had the chance to experience that for ourselves. They aren鈥檛 simply colleagues, but individuals who share with each other, care for one another, and respect each other deeply. None of us had seen a company quite like it, and for that within itself, we are grateful for the 10 weeks we had to enjoy the culture.
Would we recommend it?
Absolutely. Although it鈥檚 unlikely we would write anything besides yes, we truly mean it.
If you鈥檙e someone who thrives in a team environment, loves learning, and isn鈥檛 afraid to ask questions, 91导航 is the place for you.
Just like Qiaozhi, we鈥檝e all found this 91导航 experience full of rich opportunities 鈥� he鈥檚 鈥渞eally enjoyed the constant learning, especially when it comes to exploring and understanding the codebase.鈥� Although we didn鈥檛 all get to grips with the codebase, we can all agree that there have been plenty of opportunities to expand our knowledge!
The experience has been nothing short of amazing, and we鈥檝e all walked away with new skills, great memories, and a real sense of achievement.
Sunny sums it up perfectly: 鈥淚 would definitely recommend this internship! Everyone is super nice and friendly, and I absolutely LOVED the working environment.鈥�
We couldn鈥檛 have said it better ourselves.
Career opportunities
Our 2025 internship applications open in the autumn so keep an eye out! Find out more about what it鈥檚 like to work at 91导航 and explore our current openings here.