Koshon Williams is a recent grad from the University of Texas at Austin and Strategy Intern at Indeed. This blog post will highlight his experience joining Indeed’s Finance organization. From interviewing to onboarding through some of the projects he worked on, Koshon gives us insights into the life of an intern at Indeed. 

___

 

Koshon headshotAs I approached my final semester of college this past fall, I only had a couple of courses left to graduate. Therefore, I enrolled part-time and utilized the free time by taking free online courses to expand my data analytics skills and improve my resume.

I was approached in mid-September by Amy, Recruiter at Indeed, about my possible interest in a fall internship within Indeed’s Strategy department. I was excited about this opportunity and immediately began prepping for the interview process. After a phone screen and two interviews through Indeed’s Hiring Platform, I was offered the internship!

 

Onboarding

My onboarding experience with Indeed was very welcoming. I received a very gracious welcome package that gave me a real sense of belonging and got me pumped leading into my first day. Since the internship was remote, I received a MacBook Pro to use; fun fact: this was my first time using a MacBook in over 4 years! My first day at Indeed quickly approached and before I knew it, I was in the company onboarding session. There were over 100 others also going through the same process as me, a true testament to Indeed’s growth!

New hire welcome kit

 

After getting situated with all the mandatory onboarding tasks, I was able to meet with Dmitry Novikov, my manager. Since I started my internship as a part-time intern, my team was very flexible with setting my schedule while ensuring I was included in team events. I would like to give a big thank you to Dmitry and Mackenzie Bishop, my manager and mentor, as they have been the backbone to my wonderful internship experience. They have been devoted to helping me grow professionally and have trusted me to produce high-quality work.

 

Day-to-Day

 

The first few weeks were all about acclimating to the team and my main internship assignment. I was welcomed with a very structured guide detailing the strategy project and catching me up to speed with its current state. I familiarized myself with the scope of the projects, its key stakeholders, and technologies to be utilized, including Excel, Google Sheets, IQL, and Tableau. My internship plan document also outlined some of the expected deadlines throughout my internship.

My project priorities focused on international expansion, starting with Indeed’s top markets. First, I gathered industrial and occupational data from government sources. Then I developed a structure to be later transformed into an IQL index and a Tableau dashboard.

I was able to witness the project’s evolution firsthand, making it a particularly enjoyable experience. While the majority of the original tasks were manual, the Strategy team discovered various possibilities to automate some of the project’s tasks. Snowflake, a data warehouse solution fairly new to Indeed, is a prime example. I contributed to the implementation of this data source into the project by conducting a trial run and communicating findings to the partnering technical team and project stakeholders. It was amazing to be given that amount of responsibility as an intern!

 

Culture & Next Steps

Outside of my project responsibilities, I also experienced Indeed’s culture. Like the majority of Indeed employees at this time, I worked remotely, keeping up with company-wide events. The Global Q&A sessions with the Senior Leadership Team, Here to Help series, and Lunch & Learn sessions allowed me to experience the transparency of Indeed’s corporate culture.

Following the internship completion, I look forward to spending the next few months traveling and working on passion projects. The Covid-19 pandemic canceled my study abroad plans therefore I hope to get an opportunity to safely travel during my time off. I also can’t wait to apply the resources and skills that I’ve learned during my time as an Indeedian to help me accelerate my career and positively impact the world!