Mission’s Spring 2020 Internship Program Begins

Next week Mission will be starting the Spring Internship Program. Four interns will be joining our team for a 12-week program where they will dive into the world of AWS. Ashley Park and Noah Wilson will be joining as Cloud Operations Interns, and Zack Davis and Isabel Gonzalez will be joining as Sales Interns.

Having interns is not easy! Four people new to AWS--and mostly new to the professional world--will need to be trained, mentored, and guided for three months. Already busy managers will have to make time in packed schedules for their interns. Teammates will have to slow everything down to explain new concepts and bring the interns slowly into their world. Preparing for their arrival takes months, from interviews to creating learning plans to figuring out where their desks will sit.

So, no, having interns is not easy - but it is one of the most important things we can do for our community.‍

Internship programs provide a pathway for students from non-traditional backgrounds to gain experience in the tech world. Without a computer science degree from a four-year university, it can be extremely difficult for anyone to break into the rarefied world of tech. Career changers and students with different majors or from community colleges can be overwhelmed trying to gain technical skills and knowledge on their own. Our internship program welcomes students from different educational backgrounds with zero work experience in tech. We want to train them and make sure they get all the skills they need, whether they choose to continue at Mission or not.‍

Internship programs help us double down on our commitment to diversity. The world of tech is largely white and largely male. This is no surprise to anyone who reads the Silicon Valley news, but as a start-up that partners with one of the biggest companies in the world, we have a deep commitment to changing the face of tech. Looking outside of the traditional pipeline for our workforce helps ensure we hire and train people from all backgrounds.‍

Internship programs help us connect more deeply with our community. We are not only excited to have four extremely talented people join our team, but we feel honored to grow our relationships with local colleges and universities in the Los Angeles area. Ashley and Zack completed the Cloud Computing Program at Santa Monica College, while Isabel is a senior at Loyola-Marymount University and Noah is a junior at Whittier College. Without our internship program, we would never have the chance to connect with these colleges and get to know these incredible students.

“Nothing in this world worth having comes easy,” said Dr. Kelso of the TV show “Scrubs”, and even though great wisdom doesn’t often come from sitcoms, in this case, he was right. Creating a good and worthwhile internship program at Mission is not easy, but it is worth it. We are committed to our interns and to giving them the best experience possible for the next three months. We can’t wait.