Whether you’re a college student or an employer, you undoubtedly understand the value of the experience gained from an internship. But it’s not often that a high school student is thinking so far ahead into his or her future to seek an internship the summer before entering college. But that’s just what Kelly Driscoll, a rising freshman at the University of New Hampshire, found with Seismic. We were very lucky to have Kelly on our intern team of Customer Development Reps, a collectively valuable addition to our Boston office during the summer months. Kelly shares a little bit about his journey to Seismic, what he learned during his internship, and what’s in store for his bright future.
- What made you want to be a sales intern at a software startup? How did you hear about Seismic?
I learned about Seismic from my friend George, who has been on Seismic’s enterprise sales team for three years. After hearing more about the culture of hard work and the passion he clearly had for his job, I was immediately interested. I knew that interning would give me amazing real-world work experience before going to school. I’ll be studying Entrepreneurship at UNH in the fall, so working at such a young company has taught me more than I could have imagined before entering college. - What were your responsibilities as a sales intern?
My job as an intern was to get the Seismic platform in front of as many people as I could—people with the right title, in the right industry, and that I could connect meaningfully with. I had to catch their attention somehow, which was typically through some sort of personalized outreach, then get them to hear what I was offering. I would spend time researching the right people, then attempt to make contact whether that be over the phone, through email or over LinkedIn.
- What was a challenge you encountered during your internship, and how did you overcome it?
My biggest challenge was figuring out the best way to get in contact with people. It took a long time to work out a system as to how, when, and where I should reach out to someone in order to get the best results. It was a tedious process that proved to be very difficult at the beginning of my internship, but through persistence and trial and error I finally found a pattern that started working.
- What were the most valuable things you learned?
I learned the importance of organization as part of my daily routine. Depending on the day I would only have a few hours to send emails or make calls, meaning that I would have to pre-plan my daily objectives. I had to break down my day and set goals for myself in order to manage my time and get through the things I needed to do. I also learned the importance of believing in the product. I fully believe that Seismic can help the people I’m reaching out to, which motivates me and makes my job that much easier.
- What internship advice do you have for other college students?
My advice would be: whatever company you want to intern for, learn about its culture, and more importantly its people. Try to see yourself fitting in, and ask yourself if the people you meet or interview with the people you would want to spend every day with. If the answer is yes than you have found the right place.
Thank you to Kelly and our other summer interns for all of their hard work. We hope to have you back soon (or live vicariously through your college experiences this fall)!
