Starting college two years ago with a path towards business, I never would have anticipated interning at a technology company. But this summer, I’ve learned a tremendous amount about technology and the impact it has on the world and people.
My name is Kaci Courtright and I served as an intern for CompTIA’s education division this summer. As part of the association’s annual summer internship program, 16 interns and I work across CompTIA’s many departments.
CompTIA gives its interns as much help and freedom as they need to mature and grow in their careers. My supervisors have been helpful in handing me creative work rather than tasks an intern might typically get like editing spreadsheets. I’ve had opportunities here to write scripts, record videos, draw up a brand analysis and partner with professionals on product management projects – and there’s still so much more to do! CompTIA has really opened itself up to its interns for their benefit.
As my internship ends, I’m taking stock of my summer with CompTIA – from when I first walked through the door to how I’ve grown here. My first few goals when starting this internship were to meet every department, make friends with the rest of the interns and leave this organization knowing more about information technology than I did before I came.
My fellow interns also came to CompTIA with purposeful intentions. “I started working at CompTIA the day after I graduated high school, and I probably wouldn’t be majoring in information systems if I hadn’t worked here,” Pranita Sarangabany said. “I’m a marketing intern, and in interviews I sometimes joke that while my job is marketing IT careers to other people, I end up convincing myself.”
Mariah Harden, an intern in CompTIA’s events department, agreed that working here serves as an education in information technology.
“Almost everything I know about the tech industry I’ve learned while interning at CompTIA,” she said. “From simply learning how to use Microsoft Excel to [learning about] the newest innovations in drone technology, I’ve done more tech learning in a month-and-a-half of interning than I did in four years of college.” Harden doesn’t have a tech-related degree but rather a bachelor’s degree in English. Many of my fellow interns are not pursuing tech-related degrees, which shows there are many ways to get into a tech company and pursue a career in STEM.
I also learned a great deal here about what careers are considered technology related. As part of this internship, HR set up sessions in which we heard from representatives of every department within CompTIA. We heard from people in law, management, marketing and more – including tech of course.
Coming in here, I really didn’t know the range of types of careers in technology organizations. Tech companies need lawyers, lobbyists and product managers just as much as they need data analysts.
“There’s a bunch of jobs like research, development, implementation, selling and numerous other fields here at CompTIA for any type of person regardless of major or academic background that all surround technology,” fellow intern John Ryan said.
I’ve been inspired by this internship to embrace tech in all its forms. CompTIA does an excellent job at promoting the IT industry – right down to its internship program. Any student would be lucky to intern here.
Before I go, I’d like to share one of the most fun projects we took on this summer – this video introducing ourselves to the entire company. Take a look!
