From intern to young professional

After sending a storm of emails to recruiters, doing more HackerRank challenges than I can remember, I was patiently waiting to hear back about the next steps for my summer internship. Box, in particular, was one of the companies I was eager to hear back from because my interview experience was different here than at most companies. During each round, everyone radiated positivity and excitement. Box seemed like a great place to be.

Fast-forward to starting my internship, Box did not disappoint. Besides the delicious food, uniquely-themed floors, and zen rooms, Box’s core values stuck out to me most. One of its values is to “Bring your _____ self to work" each day. While the [blank] varies with each person, it's a huge part of what I believe to be what makes Box’s culture special. No matter what the blank may be, the constant theme I have seen is positivity. Each person is open-minded to new ideas and incredibly easy to converse with. 

In addition, there is so much opportunity to make a direct impact here. For instance, as a software engineering intern, I was given a project to enhance Box’s sharing experience. I was a bit intimidated at first, but at the same time I was excited to learn new technologies and more importantly, make a difference. Everyone on my team was extremely supportive and constantly lifted me up. By the end of my internship, I was very proud of my work and the impact that it had made. 

During my time at Box, I was also partnered with a YPN mentor. Box YPN (Young Professional Network) is one of the employee resource groups at Box. They seek to connect Boxers, catalyze knowledge sharing, and create opportunities for career growth. This summer, they hosted a "buddy" program and my buddy was Kishan, a product manager on the metadata team. The buddy program provided me a way to learn about and explore various career paths.

Getting to learn about my Kishan and his role as a product manager allowed me to see how things work at Box from a product standpoint rather than an engineering one. Moreover, I was shown how product and engineering teams are inextricably tied. I found this program to be very valuable as it not only allowed me to seek advice about my career, but also gave me the opportunity to get to know someone else outside of my field. 

At the end of the internship, I found that Box is a company that embodies great work AND great culture -- definitely something hard to find. I am truly grateful for my experience here and I can’t wait to see what Box does next!