I can’t believe that it’s already August! The months in quarantine have come and gone, but the months of June and July especially flew by for me because I was busy with my internship!
I’d like to say that I am one of the lucky ones and feel fortunate enough to still have had a summer internship. I know of friends who had their internships cancelled due to COVID-19. My internship was originally supposed to be ten weeks but was reduced to eight weeks and became virtual.
The company I was interning at was Eli Lilly and Company, a pharmaceutical company headquartered in Indianapolis, IN. I was a marketing intern on the new product planning team in the diabetes business unit. I cannot go into the details or specifics of my project, however I would still like to share about my virtual internship experience!
Eight weeks might not feel like a long time, but I definitely feel that I learned A LOT and grew both professionally and personally.
Learnings
1) Being Your Own Advocate
I feel that I have always been someone who is pretty expressive and a good communicator. But during my internship, I really learned how to open up and be more direct about how I’m feeling. I learned to speak up more and be more confident in my decisions and in explaining my thought process to my supervisor and to my team.
2) Don’t Be Afraid to Ask for Help
This is something that I am continually working on. There were definitely times throughout the internship where I had to admit that I needed help or that I didn’t know what was going on. Being immersed in a new world and having to absorb knowledge about a new industry and business can be daunting. There were many acronyms and terms that I had to learn quickly. I am truly grateful that I had my supervisor and my team to lean on, as they provided me with constant support and the necessary resources to be successful.
3) Take Every Opportunity to Learn
An internship gives you the opportunity to really learn - about the company, the industry, but most importantly about yourself. I can say that I definitely learned something new from every single conversation I had with people at the organization. I got to pick people’s brains and learn more about their background and what led them to Lilly. But this internship also allowed me to learn more about myself. I learned about my personal working style and preferences, what my personal values are, potential jobs I was interested in, etc. It’s honestly amazing how much knowledge you can acquire in eight weeks.
Highlights
1) Autonomy
I truly enjoyed the autonomy that I was given. Lilly gives their interns a meaningful project that will have an impact on the company. I was also instilled a lot of responsibility as an intern. For example: I had the ability to schedule and conduct my own meetings. Sure, I sat in on some bigger team meetings but for the most part, I was engaging with key stakeholders and advisors for the majority of my one-on-one meetings. I also really got to “own” my project by developing my own process for how I approached it.
2) Being Challenged
My project was stimulating and challenged me in ways that I couldn’t have imagined. I was challenged in the sense that the way I would normally approach a problem didn’t necessarily work for the scope of my project. I learned to adapt and lean on the guidance of my supervisor in how I framed my thinking and approached my project.
3) Lilly Culture
I can say that I enjoyed my internship immensely. The #TeamLilly culture that kept being reiterated could absolutely be felt, even in a virtual environment. Everyone that I met at the organization has been so nice and genuine. I felt that I could “bring my authentic self to work”, which is another phrase that is heard at Lilly. I also loved that as an intern, I was able to send calendar invites to people that I had never “met” before and not one person declined my calendar invite. If anything, they would simply propose a new time to meet!
One of the biggest highlights of my internship was when a vice president who couldn’t attend my final presentation personally emailed me explaining why he couldn’t attend. He also said that he was interested in my final presentation and asked if I could share it with him. He is a busy man, so I was not expecting him to attend, let alone explain why he couldn’t come!
When I received his email, I was absolutely touched and in that moment, I felt extremely valued. It speaks volumes that a vice president was interested in a “mere intern project", but this is extremely reflective of how much Lilly values their employees and how interns are given a meaningful project that will have an impact on the company.
My virtual internship experience surpassed all my expectations. Even though it was virtual, I feel that I was provided the necessary resources from my team. I was able to meet so many amazing people at the organization. I am incredibly grateful to have had this virtual internship experience and can’t wait to see where the future takes me!
I hope you enjoyed reading more about my internship experience!
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