Aug 2024

Key Learnings

Key Learnings
Your internship starts when you accept the position. Begin learning about the expectations and make a plan.
Come prepared to every 1:1, and after ask who you should meet and reach out. Keep doing this and be intentional with both your time.
Have a disposition and bias for coming to meetings with content and that can be reviewed. Often ask for feedback in the meetings. Then, implement it.

PIN

What is PIN?
Performance
The personality traits
Image
What image do people have of you?
Want narrative to be the experiences and work you’ve done
Network
Reaching out to people
Sharing your story
Coming prepared with questions only they can answer

My PIN
Performance
Driven, Ambitious, Passionate
Image
I am the person that developed X feature.
I am the intern that is very energetic and loves to have 1:1s.
___ is VERY easy to work with.
Network
Getting opportunities
Reaching out to other managers for opening positions
Meeting with VPs, Senior Directors, Directors, and Managers
Connecting with people on Linkedin after meeting. Sharing your resume with others.

Preparation

Preparation
Network
Meeting with your manager
Reaching out to previous interns
Befriend the incoming intern cohort

Goal: Learn about how to navigate the internship and obtain the return offer.

Preparation
Make a plan
Create OKRs for before your internship
3/30/60 or something equivalent
Plan backwards, execute forwards
Your manager is your mentor!
Set up weekly or twice a week meetings
Figure out goals and alignment for the internship.

Goal: Be prepared and intentional in every conversation.

Mock Example of 3/30/60
3
Meet with manager and get the official 3/30/60 framework set up
Obtain list of people that I will interface with most during the internship
Get the list by day 3, and meet with all of them by day 30
Get set up on a codebase and familiarity with the tools
Meet with fellow interns
Connect with them on LinkedIn
Get advice on the interns that started before you
Join any intern group channels
Put a meeting for day 30 to get reviewed
Make it known that this is a special meeting to go reorient yourself

Mock Example of 3/30/60
30
Meet with Skip Manager
Connect with at least 2 VPG Interns outside of Sunnyvale
Connect with at least 2 Non-Sunnyvale people on the team
Reset OKRs based on what happened last month
Have a lunch with mentor, manager, and skip
Have your day 30 formal checkin for reorientation
Ex: Do the stoplight method
Green = What should I start doing?
Yellow = What should I continue doing?
Red = What should I stop doing?

Mock Example of 3/30/60
60
Complete base project and get ready for presentation
Renew connection that I worked very well with and connected well with
“Hey I’m going soon, so I’d love to grab lunch with you and connect”
Have a final check-in with Manager
Based on the performance, do you think there is a pathway to full-time?
Stretch goal: Meet with a VP
Possibly present to the VP
Ask manager how to enable this stretch goal
	

Internship

Internship
Leverage the “Intern” power
Don’t be afraid to ask for 1:1s
People want to know the intern
Find a time on calendar and schedule a meeting
Give people context as to why you want to meet with them
Ensure every meeting is intentional
Have context of why you want to meet beforehand
Go to every intern event!
You get to meet new people that could have major impact
Ex: You can meet VPs!
Goal: Be confident. You are more than just an intern.

Internship
Web of Connections
Before each 1:1, do:
Research on the person
Come up with 2-3 specific questions.
After each 1:1, ask:
You have a sphere of influence. Who are people you suggest me talking to?
Do you know anyone that would be good for me to talk to regarding…
Who do you think are the best to reach out to for help on my project?
Be very specific in who you want to reach out to.
Create a list/graph of who to talk to for what situation
More common a name is said, more important the person is.
It’s basically a heat map of how often the name is said.
Goal: Make your network your biggest weapon to success

Example of How to Reach Out V1
Hi ___,
I hope you’re doing well! I’m in intern from ___ on the VPG ___ Team, and I really enjoyed hearing you at the [EVENT]. I’d love to learn more about your work in particular and how you [SPECIFIC INFO FROM THEM].
I understand you are very busy, but I would greatly appreciate a 15-30 minute coffee chat with you sometime in the next 2-3 weeks.
Let me know if you’re open to this.
Best,
___

Example of How to Reach Out V2
Hi ___,
I’m a rising senior at ___ interning on the VPG ___ Team. My internship ends this friday, but I wanted to see if you would be free for a coffee chat sometime before I leave? I’d love to learn more about your work on the ___ app as I’m quite interesting the ____ field.
Let me know if you’re open to this!
Best,
___

Example of How to Reach Out V3
Hi ___,
I hope you’re doing well! I’m an intern from ___ on the VPG ___ team, and I’m looking for a full-time position after I graduate this coming spring (June 2025). I wanted to reach out to see if you’d like to hop on a 15-30 minute coffee chat call to get connected and learn about each other.

I have a lot of experience in implementing customer-facing features in apps and bringing an idea to life through quick prototyping and iteration. In my current internship, I worked very closely with cross-functional partners to ensure that the feature I prototyped will deliver the best experience to customers. I am very interested in a position in VPG as that’s where my interest and background align. I attached my resume for you to check out.
Let me know if you’re open to a coffee chat sometime.
Best,
___

General Learnings

General Learnings
Open yourself to feedback
Ask for feedback, and ensure you act on it.
Show them that you’ve incorporated their feedback.
Be comfortable with just directional feedback rather than concrete feedback
Easier to edit than create, so come up with something and ask for input.
Unblocking Yourself
Attempt something on your own for 15-30 minutes first. Then ask for help.
Parallelize unblocking by asking the channel + someone else on the team
Come prepared with what you’ve tried/attempted.
Goal: Don’t be afraid to ask for help or feedback. Utilize your time efficiently.

General Learnings
Have a mix of Transactional and Non-Transactional
Transactional = We need something from this meeting.
Non Transactional = Just talking about life
Use lunches effectively to get to know your team.
We don’t want to get reputation of “every time they come to ask a question, they need something from me.”
Be curious and try out a lot of different things.
Try research, start-ups, small/medium/large companies.
Every place is different, so get a sense of what you enjoy.
Goal: Make work feel like it’s not work. Be curious and learn from each other’s stories!

General Learnings
Use your mentors, managers, and teammates as resources
They know more, so they could help you brainstorm ideas.
They can provide you feedback on your work and presentations.
Ask for templates of presentations/documents
Learn from past examples - Don’t reinvent the wheel
1+1 = 3
Combining 2 people’s idea is better than what they can do individually.
You can ask your work channels for help from others outside your team!
Tons of Slack channels or whatever communication method is used to receive specific technical help.
Great async tool for learning/debugging
Goal: You have lots of resources at your disposal. Utilize them.

General Learnings
Learn how you learn best!
Each person learns things in different ways.
Visual vs. Auditory vs. Kinesthetic
Figure out the way you best understand something and continue it.
Let others know about it and they will accommodate.
Don’t be afraid to take notes
During a meeting, it’s common to write notes.
Don’t be afraid to let the other person know.
If in-person, it’s okay to write down key points on phone, but then put away
After the conversation, then jot down everything you know down
If it’s a large meeting or event, share you big takeaways and ask for theirs
Goal: Others will accommodate and appreciate your style of learning

General Learnings
Values you should keep in mind
3 metrics you should consider: 1.) Teamwork, 2.) Results, 3.) Innovation
Why this feature? Think of Customers > Company > Team > Me
Ownership - I am the direct responsibility of this project
I should know who the right people to ask for help is
Constant urge to learn
Skills that are important to know
Technical skills everyone can learn, but soft skills are invaluable.
Know the people and the behaviours that they match with most.
Ex: Person X loves teaching, and Person Y loves talking about products
Build relationships within the team.
Understanding when to be proactive and ask people for help.
Goal: Embody these values and skills, and you will succeed!
Very good resources to learn essential skills:
https://addyosmani.com/books/softeng-google.html
https://www.amazon.com/Software-Developers-Career-Handbook-Unpredictable/dp/1098116674
https://www.thecaringtechie.com/
https://www.youtube.com/@ALifeEngineered
https://www.amazon.com/Clean-Coder-Conduct-Professional-Programmers/dp/0137081073


Thank You!


I'm going to meet with my skip manager. I want to talk about feedback from this summer,  what i should do in my final year of college to set me up for success, and how to grow at google