In 2020, summer internships took a gap year.
Following the onset of the coronavirus pandemic last year, many companies closed their job openings to deal with the sudden economic fallout. And the internship category might have been hit the hardest: According to data from Glassdoor, internship openings in the spring of 2020 saw a year-over-year decrease of 39 percent from the year prior.
In one seemingly fell swoop, the stepping stones for the professional world were taken away for many Gen Zers. Though some internships were able to be taken into the virtual world, many companies — like Yelp and the Walt Disney Company, among others — did away with the programs entirely.
Just over a year later, the tone has shifted. Cities are “reopening” across the country. The labor market is seeing signs of an ascent. And internships, whether remote or in-person, are back: As of this writing, there are more than 200 remote internships on Built In and dozens of in-person internship opportunities in the Boston area.
Alteryx, a data science and analytics software company, is one of them. Built In Boston recently caught up with three members of their team to see what the internship experience looks like, the projects interns work on and the lessons a previous intern took with him into his full-time role with the company.
Tell us a little bit about the internship program at Alteryx. What opportunities exist and what kind of experience can interns expect?
Early in Career Manager Jamie Lewis: Alteryx’s internship program is centered around growth and development, and inclusion and equality. In 2021, we hired undergraduate and graduate students across the U.S. in almost every department. Interns can expect to engage with other interns and full-time employees before their internship even starts through virtual office tours and Q&A sessions.
To help interns integrate into the Alteryx culture, cultivate friendships and connections, and aid in career development, we launched a “buddy program” that pairs interns with a full-time associate outside of their team. Additionally, interns are given the ability to break through by owning projects to gain real-life industry experience and participate in a variety of events, such as a speaker series, project showcase, “learnathon,” small group meetups, yoga, game nights, and even crafting.
Interns are given the ability to break through by owning projects to gain real-life industry experience.”
What are some of the coolest projects your interns have participated in?
VP Data Science Engineering Max Kanter: Our goal is to find projects that are both impactful for Alteryx and benefit each intern’s own career development. This includes releasing new open-source data science tools, developing innovative user experiences for explaining machine learning models, and researching new AutoML techniques.
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How has your internship helped you grow professionally, and how will you carry the lessons you’ve learned forward into your career?
Software Engineer & Two-Time Alteryx Intern Chris Bunn: While working at Alteryx, I came to realize the importance of working with a talented and collaborative team. As someone who is early in their career, having experienced and knowledgeable coworkers to bounce new ideas off of was invaluable. Whether it was developing feature design documents to debugging new issues in my implementation, the ability to rapidly get constructive feedback was instrumental in improving my software development skills.
