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Perspective

Jared, Chloe, and LeeJun share how they’ve thrived in tech internships

Published on July 18, 2019
For college students who hope to have a career in tech, a summer internship can be a great way to get familiar with the industry. Our program offers students a twelve-week internship in their field of study, which has expanded to include roles beyond engineering. This summer, product analytics intern Jared Williams, product design intern Chloe Jones, and product design intern LeeJun Park were given the opportunity to get acquainted not only with the company and our full-time team members, but with each other. 
Jared is a student at Georgia Tech in Atlanta, where he studies industrial engineering with a concentration in economic and financial systems. While he’s learned a lot about the industry in the classroom, his time here has given him a valuable peek into a whole new side of tech.

The world of product is not something that gets taught in college, and it’s something that I’ve fallen in love with over the course of the summer. It’s a beautiful blend of data storytelling, product intuition, & emotional intelligence. One of our core values is ‘we, not I’ — which means looking at problems as ‘we, the users,’ not ‘I, the company.’ That’s what Dropbox product is all about.

Chloe, a student double-majoring in both multicultural information design and marketing at the University of Maryland College Park, has also had the opportunity to dig into our products and how they relate to our users. Chloe said, “My project has been understanding the reasons why individual users come to use Dropbox, and making sure they understand how to use it on the first day of signing up. I’ve been exploring different ways to present information to users to get them started and see the value of Dropbox right away.”

LeeJun’s studies as a communication design major at the Parsons School of Design have set her up well for her internship. She is working on unifying our company’s design language to create a better experience for both users and Dropbox employees — with whom she’s had the opportunity to spend hugely beneficial time with.

Dropbox has the best culture I’ve seen so far. I’ve never worked for a company that has so many people that are so friendly and kind and giving and humble. They’re always ready to help me and talk to me, even though they’re not on my team and it’s not their responsibility to help me. You have to take advantage of all the connections you have here. Don’t talk to just the people on your team; go outside, set up one-on-ones, have coffee chats, talk to everyone!

As we’ve gotten to know many interns like LeeJun over the years, we’ve loved learning about the wide variety of passions and interests that drive them. This is why we coordinate dozens of intern activities, determined by a survey we send them to identify common interests.

Chloe is passionate about learning about different cultures through their food and is even teaching herself Korean in preparation to study abroad in Seoul in the fall; she got to explore her appetites with cooking workshops that taught interns to make food like dumplings or pizza from scratch. LeeJun is a diehard video game lover and has been showing her fellow interns how it’s done with hugely popular, snack-filled Super Smash Bros. tournaments in our game room that often run until 10 PM.

Left: The smash tournament where interns and full timers came together; Right: Dumplings from Dumpling Making Night

As a self-proclaimed “golden retriever fanatic” and nature documentary aficionado, Jared was able to get a taste of the wild side he loves when a group of interns went whitewater rafting. He was in the same boat as LeeJun, who found the experience a powerful way to connect with her fellow interns.

Our raft was full of clumsy people. Even though we deemed ourselves the most likely to capsize, it was a very safe trip! It was such a fun experience to have with all of my friends, because we knew if one person messed up, we could all fall into the water. It really strengthened our bond as interns, and helped us to learn the importance of cooperating with each other… and rowing at the same time!

Left: Pre-rafting group photo (Coloma, CA); Right: Mid-rafting group photo (the water was sooooo cold)

Stay tuned for more intern features to come, and keep an eye out for recruitment opportunities popping up in the fall. For information on other job openings, visit dropbox.com/jobs.