Interning in a COVID-19 World: Lessons Learned, Relationships Built
By Quinn Bohrer-Hughes
Quarantine started mid-March for those in the San Francisco Bay Area, which was one week after I started my internship as a Marketing Intern at Stampli. An internship in the midst of the COVID-19 global pandemic has given me a completely different intern experience than I originally expected when I first signed on to work at the Mountain View-based Stampli.
My first week was full of meetings with the marketing team and the product manager, getting set up in my new role, and meeting the staff in the office. I had never worked at a startup before and was so amazed by the way Stampli was run. The open office environment and willingness from all co-workers, even the CEO Eyal Feldman, was very refreshing and made me feel I could make an impact even as an intern. I had about two full office days before we all started working-from-home (WFH), so I had some idea of what the office experience was like. The transition to moving everything online was pretty seamless for me since my routine was still so new that it didn’t shake it up.
My typical work day from home has been actually quite nice. I wake up, read my emails, and go right into my morning Zoom meetings all while in the comfort of my room. Throughout the day, we’re well connected through Slack chats and my habitual routine includes planning social media posts, writing persona-based emails, and even helping revamp sections of the website among the other tasks I can fit in. Although it was nice to experience the community culture at Stampli, on the other hand, I do enjoy working from the comfort of my home without the added stress of rushing to get up and out the door to commute in San Jose-Bay Area traffic.
In retrospect, COVID-19 has changed so much of the world we live in — and in just a short amount of time. I’m in my third year at San Jose State University and classes have been cut short and reassigned to Zoom. Instead of walking to class with my friends, I now have Zoom meetings to catch up with them. I have also lost opportunities with my Marketing professors to meet with in class speakers, tour companies in San Francisco, and attend evening receptions with my entrepreneurship class.
However, my ascension up the learning curve from WFH has been fascinating; since most of my socializing and opportunities have been moved to online, I have learned to make more of an effort to build connections, reflect, and to be comfortable with the uncomfortable in this new Remote Reality. I would like to come out of this quarantine proud of what I have accomplished personally and professionally. It is easy to just sit back and watch the old ways of life fade, but to be creative and thrive in the midst of hardships to grow professionally and personally is exciting. I am putting in the hard work now so when we are all free again I will have new connections, experience, and tools to thrive in the next normal.
I am so blessed to have my internship at Stampli during this pandemic. Many internships have ended early due to COVID-19 but Stampli has still time for me to work with their team. They’ve shown nothing but care and support to ensure their employees are taken care of and doing well with the new adjustments. Stampli is a great place to grow your skills in a stimulating environment, and in spite of the potential disruption of a global pandemic they’ve been great leaders and friends. If you would like to learn more about Automated AP check it out here.
