12 Aug Reflections on a Positive Summer Internship
By Solene Watson, Marketing Intern
Our Summer Internship Program has come to an end, and I leave this experience with an encouraging amount of experience and new knowledge. Over the past nine weeks, I was part of Team Criterion — an amazing opportunity in itself. One of my main goals for this internship was to obtain real-world experience in the marketing field, and this internship delivered! I had the opportunity to work on a variety of projects alongside professionals from several fields and learned a lot about the role of a marketing and communications director in an IT and cyber government contracting firm.
As the Program came to an end, I worked closely with the other five interns on creating presentations for their final projects. With little knowledge of the IT world, they were able to communicate with me the necessary information to enable me to help them build a professional corporate project. I enjoyed having the ability to work with different teams, from IT and Policy to other domains such as Human Resources.
Brian completed his first-ever internship on a Privacy and Policy team. At the start, he felt a lot of pressure and worry, but knew it was a good opportunity to challenge himself. Today, he believes that he took a significant step forward towards his career goals. He also realizes the importance of things other than studying, such as communication, teamwork, and time management. He made a lot of mistakes but was thankful that everyone understood that he was learning and treated him kindly. “I will never forget this experience and believe that I am now much better positioned for the future,” Brian concluded.
Saurab thinks that the best thing about the internship was the opportunity to spend the summer working for such a reknowned and prestigious company like Criterion Systems. Equally, he feels that being directed by an expert in the field was interesting as the interns were handed various tasks and assignments in cybersecurity that will prove beneficial to him for his career growth. Saurab liked the assignments that were handed to him, and the independent research required allowed him to think critically and find ways in which the tasks/assignments were applicable to Criterion. Overall, his goal was to help Criterion in whatever way he could and found the internship both a challenge and an exciting opportunity, presented in a unique way, where he could apply his learning skills. “I have acquired valuable assets to help me succeed at a higher level, such as being ethical and responsible for my own actions and learned other behaviors that I’ll continue to demand from myself going forward,” summarized Saurab.
I am happy to say that all the interns have only reported positive feedback, and we are all very grateful for this opportunity. Criterion welcomed us with open arms, and I will always be thankful for everyone who helped me throughout the Summer Internship Program.