This blog post is the first in a series highlighting Bazaarvoice interns.
If you’re thinking about applying for an internship at Bazaarvoice, there’s no better way to learn what to expect than to ask an intern.
Harrison Yeager started his marketing internship at Bazaarvoice in January 2009. After a semester full of hard work, great experiences, and free snacks, Harrison joined the team as a full-time hire in the marketing department. He sat down with us to answer a few questions about Bazaarvoice, his internship, and the unbeatable culture at Austin’s Best Place to Work.
How did you hear about Bazaarvoice? What made you want to work here?
I first heard about Bazaarvoice through friends working here. As senior year rolled around, and I began investigating career options, I decided to learn more. I quickly realized how much I interacted with Bazaarvoice technology, and knew the company was onto something big. I recognized that Bazaarvoice was defining their space. This kind of market leadership and entrepreneurial spirit wasn’t something I saw at other companies I’d considered before. When my friends started to tell me about the great culture here, and then began to recruit me as a marketing intern, I couldn’t say no.
How did you apply for your position? What did you do to get hired?
Two friends and Bazaarvoice employees reached out to me about an internship. I submitted my resume to the marketing team and came in for an on-site interview. I was hired as a marketing intern, with one condition from my pending boss at Bazaarvoice. She would only hire me if I found a replacement for my old job, where I was working for her husband. Luckily, I found a replacement, and I was able to transition into my new role as marketing intern. I learned a lot during the internship. With a lot of hard work, collaborative input, dedication, and adding my own personality to the culture, the team decided they could use me as a full-time employee. At graduation, I was converted to Marketing Operations Associate, where I currently am a part of an awesome team.
How was your Bazaarvoice internship different from other jobs you’ve had in the past?
My internship was radically different from other jobs, mostly due to the amount of responsibility entrusted to me. As an intern at Bazaarvoice, people don’t seem to treat you any differently than they would a full-time employee. You’re given long-term projects with deadlines, integral business tasks, and the opportunity to find ways to improve the business overall. People value the “outsider” input an intern can bring. Today, as a full-time employee, I have seen this full circle while working with the new marketing interns. Sometimes I think an internship at Bazaarvoice can be more challenging and impactful than many full-time jobs.
What was the most important thing you learned in your internship?
The most important thing I learned as an intern was to stay focused on the objective, and always look for ways to improve. You should be able to justify the work you are doing by understanding the objective and the potential impact. As an intern, I always made sure I knew the end goal behind all the work I did, and how it would affect the business. Looking at process from different perspectives is a must, and this will help you identify ways to improve operations, as well as improve your own workflow and discipline.
What advice would you give others who’d like to intern here?
Bazaarvoice has an expectation that you will be good at what you can do here. If you really want to be a part of the team, you need to not only prove how good you may be at the given job, but how much you understand what Bazaarvoice is about. We look for people who believe in our culture, our potential, our market leadership, and the core of our business – the customer voice. If you can demonstrate this in the hiring process, then you are the type of person we are looking for.
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If you’re qualified for a Bazaarvoice internship, we’re hiring! If you know a passionate, talented, creative individual looking for the right place to build a career, refer them here.
Stay tuned to our blog for more on our interns and the awesome opportunities at Bazaarvoice.
This post is guest-written by Michael Stevenson, Content Operations Team Lead at Bazaarvoice.
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