Every summer, Centrify gets an infusion of fresh perspectives and eager learners via our Summer Intern program.
This summer, we had 22 interns join us on our mission to secure enterprise Identity and Access Management with Zero Trust Security. Some have already returned to school, while others are extending their internships due to late school start dates or because they’ve already graduated.
As part of our own learning process, we created a contest asking them to share some of their highlights about being part of the Centrify Zero Trust team, whether recognizing a particular mentor, noting key learnings they’ll take with them, or any other experiences that stood out during their time at Centrify.
Ricky Elder, a Sales Operations Intern, penned the winning submission, included in full, below, along with excerpts from the other entries.
Ricky Elder, Sales Operations Intern
Working for Centrify is the first official business Internship I have ever been a part of, so coming in I was trying to keep an open mind.
Friends and relatives had haunted me with stories of their past experiences as mindless, task-completing interns, so I was worried my summer would be filled with coffee runs and making copies. To my pleasure, even during the interview process, my soon-to-be bosses all presented their thoughts on how to keep me engaged and learn as much as possible in my two short months.
I quickly dove into learning how to be a Salesforce admin through exporting data sets, using pivot tables to get the information I wanted out of tens of thousands of accounts, and accompanying the sales team to the yearly Sales Kick-off Event.
I am very thankful for all of the information I have learned that will be applied to my life as a future business leader but more importantly I am thankful for all of the people I have been able to work besides.
The interns I have met at Centrify have quickly turned into friends that I have connected with on multiple personal levels and gotten the chance to share meals, stories, and games of ping pong with every once in a while.
Along with these new friendships I hope to forever hold a relationship with my teammates in Sales Operations. My boss is a hilarious and kind-hearted guy who works harder than anyone I’ve met. Despite everything he does he always has time to help me with work, share a joke, or talk about the Oakland Athletics’ continual climb to their wildcard spot.
The best example I can share of how much these people have come to mean to me comes from my birthday. I came in at 8am, just like every other day, and got right to work, but unlike other days we had a meeting to discuss a “super important final project” at 11am. When I showed up to the meeting I was met with a cake, a candle, and 4 grinning Co-workers singing in celebration.
Centrify has been a team that I have grown to support 100%. Any opportunity at getting Centrify swag, I take it. Any event I can attend, I go. I have even found myself bringing up and defending the weight Centrify holds in the cybersecurity world market.
Jose Gomez, IT/Help Desk Intern
“As a student, I constantly think about my future beyond college. Interning at Centrify has allowed me to accumulate immense insight of the modern working world, where employees work and encourage each other as a team. The customary myth that employees give interns busy work and see them as free labor is entirely incorrect. Here, I am able to comfortably approach any employee and ask questions about what they do and how it benefits the workplace. They take that enthusiasm and provide clear answers about their position and the responsibilities they hold. I didn’t see my position as a job, but as an experience that provided me with information on how a successful business and working environment is operated.”
Pranoti Shukla, Customer Success Operations Intern
“Being in the customer success team, I got to work with cross-functional teams and learn how multiple teams come together with their unique talents to create something impactful. For me, the work was only a small part of what made my experience so special. Everyone I met helped me grow, both as an employee and a person. My mentors talked with me about my interests, ambitions and struggles regularly, not because they felt obligated, but because they truly cared.”
Bianca Robles, Public Relations Intern
“Interning at Centrify has offered me experiences far exceeding my own expectations and surpassing those solely expected of a public relations intern. This opportunity has not only offered me a plethora of cybersecurity knowledge and expertise in the works of a PR professional within a fast-paced company, but also has taught me the importance of being simultaneously challenged and rewarded, while having integrity and pride in my work. As a young professional, I appreciate the welcoming, nurturing, and disciplined culture that Centrify has created for its interns.”
Nick Blackford, Financial Planning & Analysis Intern
“The biggest thing I learned as an intern this summer is to work smarter, not harder. In my time as an FP&A intern I was exposed to many aspects of business and startup culture that I have never experienced before in school. These experiences challenged my critical thinking skills and my ability to overcome adversity. Learning how to think smarter was not only a great revelation in my development as a business professional this summer but also a skill that I will carry with me through life. This is something that I would have missed out on if it were not for my internship with Centrify.”
Anthony Chu, Software Engineer Intern
“The biggest lesson I’ve learned is how a successful corporation operates. I was able to partake in daily stand up meetings, planning meetings, and sizing meetings that included not only our mobile team but also the product manager who explained to us about what customers wanted, and where we should be headed towards. These things taught me that being part of a company is not only working on your own role and tasks, but to also understand and integrate other people’s work in your team and circles.”
On behalf of all of us at Centrify, we extend a huge thank you to these bright young individuals for their contributions to our company’s success this summer. We will be tracking your journeys and your own successes as well.
To learn more about opportunities to rethink security at Centrify, visit our careers page at www.centrify.com/about-us/careers
The post Centrify Interns Reflect on a Summer of Zero Trust appeared first on Secure Thinking by Centrify.
