Lessons Learned: An Intern’s Perspective

As a recent graduate, I knew I wanted to start my career with Rocket Companies. I didn’t know the how, what, or where, and at first, I was only looking at full time positions completely disregarding the idea of an internship after graduation. It was only after speaking with multiple recruiters that I realized how great of an opportunity it is to intern, regardless of graduation status. With my internship ending in the next month, I can now echo the recruiters in saying that interning is a great way of getting your foot in the door at Rocket Companies!

1. Reach out and start making connections with your team as soon as possible. Take time to set up 1:1s with team members the first week you start. Shadow them to learn what they do and get to know them better. This will allow relationships to form as well as give you a better understanding of everyone’s role on the team. Who knows, maybe after shadowing someone you will realize that they’re in the type of role you want to pursue.
2. Use the resources! Even as an intern you get to reap some of the great benefits that come with being a part of Rocket Companies. One of these awesome benefits is Sift, an application to look up any team member at Rocket Companies by name, title, and even interests. This is a great tool to find people and build your network.
3. Join Team Member Resource Networks (TMRN’s) and get involved. Just because you are an intern does not mean that you are shunned in the corner and not invited to events – it’s quite the opposite. Team members want to meet you! In fact, there are 13 TMRN’s to get involved with, all of which are built upon four pillars to develop a more inclusive community. Check out some TMRN’s such as Mobility and Transit Advocates or Multicultural Alliance Network and go to the events they run; they are both educational and social. Join any TMRN and interact in any way you want; a contributor, a reader, an ally – whatever speaks to you!
4. Know when to ask for help. Although team leaders are always available to support you as a team member, it’s important to follow the ISM of “We’ll figure it out.” Try to solve the problem and learn how to do something on your own. If you don’t know how to do something, ask another team member, find online resources, and show you are solution focused.
5. Jump into everything without hesitation. Following the mindset of the ISM, “Yes before No,” is part of the culture at Rocket Companies. Jumping into things and getting your hands dirty not only help drive the culture, but also helps you in gaining as much experience as possible.
6. Be in constant contact with your mentor. As an intern you will get a mentor who is someone you can learn from and talk with daily. They are there to help you, so use them! Being in constant communication with them is helpful so they know how you are doing and give you feedback to grow.
7. Keep your goals in mind. At the very beginning of your internship, you will create your iOKR’s (Individual Objectives & Key Results) with your team leader. This allows you to have a plan on how to achieve your goals/objectives during the span of your internship. Keeping goals in mind allows you to have a more purposeful internship and it ensures you get what you want from the experience.

Now that you have insight on tips to make the most of an internship at Rocket Companies, I encourage you to apply for one yourself! These lessons can be applied in most professional settings. In fact, they were created from pulling my own experience as well as interviewing a couple other interns from different teams and areas of interest. If you are looking for experience from marketing to computer engineering, Rocket Companies offers internships within those areas and everything in between!