"I think simply the exposure to things that were unfamiliar was the best part of this internship. Being in the startup and business environment was something completely new to me and got me out of my comfort zone almost every day!"
Adrienne interned with Journeyfront, a hiring software company, in 2017.
If a student asked you about interning here, what would you say?
I would say that if they are looking to become more familiar with the business world and the startup environment then Journeyfront is the place for them! There was a lot of “business” terminology that I wasn’t familiar with. For example, there was a lot of talk about things like venture capital firms, angel investors, seed rounds etc. I felt like I had to look a lot of things up but it also helped me to learn the basics of the business world!
What is your advice to future interns to help them have a successful experience?
The permanent employees of Journeyfront (the CEO, CTO, Chief Marketing Officer and programmer) are really good about catering the internship experience to the intern. At the beginning of the internship and throughout the internship, they asked me what my goals were for the internship and what I wanted to know and learn during my time at Journeyfront. So my advice would be to go into the internship with goals and to voice those goals to your superiors throughout the internship so that they can help you. It’s a great opportunity!
What was the most rewarding aspect of your internship experience?
I think simply the exposure to things that were unfamiliar was the best part of this internship. Being in the startup and business environment was something completely new to me and got me out of my comfort zone almost every day! There was a pretty steep learning curve so I learned a lot! I think this was the most valuable part of this internship. I would encourage English students to look for opportunities like this one that will allow them to be in new environments and do things that they have never done before. Here’s an example. I was writing copy for Journeyfront’s website; this was short, pithy, direct text. This was something I had never really done before. On top of that, I was expected to produce copy at least once a day and and then have the Chief Marketing Director go over my writing with me and tell me what changes to make. Sometimes I was told to start over from scratch and try again. I had never been expected to produce so quickly nor had my writing been workshopped in quite that way. While this was often uncomfortable and even sometimes discouraging, I now value it as a great “real world” experience and hope to have more experience like it!