We are already halfway through our summer internship program! Last week, our interns spent their Friday volunteering at local non-profit organizations. They were able to give back to the Knoxville community, while collaborating with other interns.
This week we are focusing on our IT interns. We asked them:
How do you feel your college courses helped you prepare for this internship?
Ashley Babjac University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Application Development
College provides you with a general set of skills that are applicable to many jobs. These skills directly transfer to the coding portion of the job. What college can never prepare you for is the business specific part of the job. There are many Pilot specific components and applications that can be very confusing at times. Of course, Pilot has done a great job of bringing us up to speed and providing us with the tools we need to be successful in our role.
Chris Hishmeh University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Help Desk
I feel as though my first year in college prepared me for this internship because I am able to create a balance in my workload and meet deadlines. My college classes have built up my work ethic and allowed me to transition well into Pilot’s internship program.
David Butler Pellissippi State Community College
Network Operations
My college courses gave me both the experience and courage needed to apply for one of Pilot’s IT internships. For instance, being in Computer Science 1020 helped keep my programming skills sharp, and Computer Assembly gave me experience with using operating systems like Linux.
Jack Fitchpatrick University of Tennessee at Chattanooga
Application Development
With my intern position being in application development, the technical knowledge I have received from college has been beneficial to my performance in this internship. The intern group project is all about working together so I am thankful to have experience with team projects.
Jacob Duffy University of Tennessee, Knoxville
Enterprise Applications
I think the most important thing that I have learned from my college courses is not necessarily the material, but the work habits that it has instilled in me. Characteristics such as perseverance, diligence, a good work ethic have really helped in adjusting to the internship at Pilot. In my work at Pilot, I have seen that the scope of many projects is something that cannot be covered over the span of a semester. However, I have still been able to use my courses to help my understanding of these projects. Overall, I would say that my courses have prepared me fairly well.
Tony Romano Birmingham-Southern College
Enterprise Applications
The college courses that I took helped me prepare for being dedicated and focused throughout this internship process; however, the specific classes that I took did not prepare me for the knowledge that I need to be successful in this role.
Make sure to check out last Monday’s blog!
We strive to make our internship program as exciting and educational as possible. To vote for us as one of the top 100 internship programs in the country, click here.
