Alexandra Huguez completed a remote internship in sales data quality with an HR solutions software company.
How did you get your internship and why did you choose it?
I am a fellow in an organization called MLT (Management Leadership of Tomorrow) which hosts conferences and networking events. I joined the program my sophomore year and worked with a mentor that helped me realize my passions and strengths. I was invited to a conference in Minneapolis with MLT my junior year where I had my first round interview with UKG, an HR solutions software company. I networked and honed my interviewing skills throughout the conference and I progressed through the final round interview in the process.
UKG stood out to me in the interviewing process where, unlike other companies, they seemed to really care about how I did. My interviewers gave feedback in the interview and were open and transparent. I didn’t know much about UKG before interviewing but it was clear to me that the company culture was miles above anything I had seen before just based on how the interview went. My decision boiled down to wanting a flexible and interesting internship while also having a supportive environment.
What kind of work did you do throughout your internship experience?
I worked mainly in Salesforce during my internship with some occasional Excel projects to complete. In Salesforce, I would complete Account Adds for requestors. I worked solely with New Logo accounts. The accounts we add into Salesforce do a great deal in dictating the sales we make. Working in Sales Support was great because we are the people “behind the curtain” that move business processes forward.
In the Sales Academy we also worked with a team of interns outside our day-to-day team where we did pitches and presentations throughout the summer.
What was your favorite part of your internship?
My favorite part of my internship was the intern trip to Boston. UKG flew out all the Sales Interns for a conference and we were able to work out of the Boston office for a couple days. Some highlights from that trip were being able to network with my team in-person after only interacting online all summer, the sponsored boat ride through the Boston Harbor, the executive lunch, and all the great sales panels (including one from the CEO himself, Chris Todd). This trip was very meaningful as it was a culmination of all the hard work we had done over the summer.
What did you find challenging about your internship?
The most challenging aspect of this internship was the on-screen burnout I experienced from being online all day, each day of the internship. I realized about a quarter of the way through that I get energy and motivation through talking to people in-person. Being online was one part of the challenge, but the nature of my work in Data Quality was very solitary as well. The combination of these two aspects made it difficult to sustain my energy and I learned that in the future I want to have opportunities to engage with people on-site.