Insights from an OpenStack intern

The OpenStack Foundation is currently seeking a marketing intern — info on how to apply here.

I’ve worked with the OpenStack Foundation as intern for the last 12 months. It was a fantastic placement with an amazing team and I’m very blessed to have had the opportunity. Here are some insights from my time as an intern.

Take the deep dive

As soon as you start, give it your all. Read up on relevant information to help you understand the organization, work hard to meet deadlines, and even deliver tasks well before those due dates hit. Making that first great impression can create a great foundation for lasting working relationships later on. Not only that, it helps for further understanding from co-workers if something happens beyond your control and you can’t complete a particular task on time.

Say yes

Don’t be afraid to say yes! If a new project or opportunity presents itself and you have time for the task, give it a go! You never know what great things it might lead to. I was only in the first few weeks into my placement and a co-worker suggested I submit a CFP for the OpenStack Summit in Boston. I did, and I got to present my first ever talk at an international conference!

Say “Hi!”

Be proactive to meet all your colleagues, taking the chance to join both the formal meetings and social chats. This also extends to if you attend events like conferences or meetups. Take the chance to meet as many people as possible, even if you’re having informal chats about their career path, for example, what their role involves, how they got on their career path and so on. These are great ways to learn about different careers in the technology space. It is also a great chance to not only practice your networking skills (a very valuable one to have!) but also grow your network too.

Ask questions

Sometimes in new roles we feel like asking questions might make us look incompetent. That is completely false! If you’re unsure, this is the best thing to do. Your co-workers will appreciate your interest and it will help you get the task done quicker, instead of being stuck.

Make the pitch

Just because you’re an intern doesn’t mean your ideas won’t be taken seriously. If you have that lightbulb moment, make a pitch to your co-workers. Give them the two minute elevator pitch for idea and if they like it, make a formal written project proposal and take it from there. If you’re feeling nervous, remember the worst thing that can happen is that they say no. That’s it! Additionally, if they do say no, you can ask for feedback on the idea and what would make it better. I pitched the idea of an student engagement initiative called OpenStack comes to Campus. With support from colleagues we ran the first one in Melbourne, and now further documentation has been created for this to be replicated around the world.

Seek feedback and grow

Don’t wait for the formal feedback periods such as quarterly or mid year reviews for feedback. I used to ask on my weekly call with my manager if they were happy with my work and if there was anything I could improve on. You can fix any minor issues early and this also shows you want to continuously learn and grow.

Don’t be afraid of mistakes, embrace them and be prepared to learn from them.

It is inevitable that mistakes may be made at sometime during your internship. These things happen! As soon as they do, apologize and make amends. From there, reflect on what caused the issue and note how you can prevent it in the future.

Last but not least – Have fun!

I want to sincerely thank the OpenStack Foundation for an amazing year! I had a fantastic time and learned so much in my time with them. I would highly recommend them as a great work team to undertake placement with.

The OpenStack Foundation is currently seeking a marketing intern — info on how to apply here.

Tags: internships