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Trilogy's inaugural Summer Internship Program officially came to a close this week and the experience was nothing short of amazing. As we send off our first group of interns, we're reflecting on all of the great things that came out of it and share what we all learned from the experience. In early 2020 (pre-pandemic) we had plans of bringing on one or two interns, but with the pandemic and the uncertainty surrounding our world, we decided to move the internship to Summer 2021. "In hindsight, this decision was the right one to make, as we grew #TeamTrilogy exponentially in the number of employees and our capabilities for internal support to justify 5 interns (as opposed to 2 prior). Given the additional time and support, we were able to build out a more impactful and meaningful internship program to provide an interactive and immersive learning experience through real-world scenarios prevalent within the world of IT consulting. "Our goal for the interns was to create a hands-on learning experience of modern IT practices and gain practical knowledge before graduation. Our goals as leaders were to break new talent into our industry and create jobs that keep top-talent here in our beautiful state #WV." says Trilogy's Head of Talent Acquisition, Chad Jeffries. Trilogy has cultivated a culture of giving back, and there's no better way to do so than investing in emerging technology professionals and providing them an opportunity to jump-start a career in IT. When we announced our internship opportunity, we received massive support from Universities, partners, and our local communities that resulted in more than 80 intern applicants from across the tri-state area 😳 Coincidently, all 5 of the selected candidates are students at West Virginia University, and all are Native West Virginians, as well! Each intern was strategically placed with mentors across the various IT disciplines within the organization, learning each area of the mentor’s area of expertise, who coached and mentored the interns during the 12-week internship program. Disciplines included Software Engineering/Application Development, Systems Administration, Engineer and Architecture, Cloud services, Data Analysis, and more, within the Agile Development Methodology. The interns provided incredible feedback to our leadership team, and Dalton Westfall was nice enough to share his thoughts on his experience…
"The opportunity I had to work with Trilogy this summer as a technical intern really allowed me to explore the field of technology in ways I hadn’t gotten to in other internships. Many internships (especially during covid) don’t provide the same level of involvement that Trilogy provided for the interns this summer. Not only did we get to meet many of the employees at the company, but we got assigned individual mentors based on our interests. On top of that, the CEO of the company led our team and helped guide us through the development of a real-world application in production today. Having the opportunity to work collaboratively with the other interns on a real-world application was more than I could have hoped for in an internship.
The staff at Trilogy did an awesome job of helping us through all the onboarding process as well as making us feel like part of the Trilogy team from day 1. I appreciated the career advice and coaching they offered throughout the internship. Whether it be helping us edit resumes, explaining the security clearance process or pursuing certifications, the team really took the time with each of us to help us foster our careers. Did I mention they also paid for our certification tests?
For me, working an internship should be considered a trial run for getting a job. As a guy with 2 bachelor’s degrees in different fields, I can honestly say I learned more from working than I ever did in school. This internship allowed me to prove to Trilogy and other employers that I can take what I’ve learned and leverage it in today’s job market. I can also say that as a guy with 2 bachelor’s degrees, a company willing to pay its summer interns a living wage is much appreciated. Fostering future employees shouldn’t be looked at as a hassle, and Trilogy really excelled at showing us that we were valued and supported at work.
Last but certainly not least, I really liked the positive outlook and the people at Trilogy. Technology companies often bring to mind the stereotypical anti-social types perched inside cubicles. At Trilogy, everyone was eager to get to know me and cheerfully willing to give advice should I ask for it. I wasn’t micro-managed and was given the freedom to work from home or in the office. Overall, the experience was great, and I look forward to working at Trilogy in the future." - Dalton Westfall, Technical Intern at Trilogy
Lastly, we want to given thanks and shoutouts to everyone who made our inaugural internship not only possible, but successful 🙌 Huge shoutout to our mentors Ben McCann, Melissa Vaden, Steve Adkins, Paige Mitchell, and George Sangiolo. We are so grateful for you all, as they each exceeded the expectations for the time investment. Their dedication to providing a positive experience for each intern really shined through. 🙏 Shoutout to their university professors and program directors for helping us spread the word of our internship to their classes. @Nanda Can't forget all that happened behind the scenes to support, plan, and execute each phase of the internship. From a day of career-coaching, to event planning and much more, thank you to our #TeamTrilogyHR Stacy Downey, Sandy Yocum and Chad Jeffries. The biggest shoutout goes to our interns. We thank you all for your hard-work, dedication, work-ethic, and tenacity to learn and grow with us. They exceeded all expectations and helped contribute to the successes of our team, and future interns yet to come! We are excited to continue our internship programs and ultimately provide career opportunities to the future of West Virginians (and eventually our nation)!
