Cisco hosted 1700 hundred interns this summer time as a part of its dedication to creating rising expertise which may in the future work at Cisco. The intern program has been round for many years, which Chris Harrison is aware of very nicely. He began as an intern and is in his twenty sixth yr at Cisco. We celebrated National Intern Day by sharing his story.
Treat the Entire Internship as an Interview
As Program Manager, Role Strategy and Enablement, Chris Harrison manages instruments and applications to assist staff leverage the talents that they’ve. It’s a becoming function for somebody who bought his begin because of pure curiosity, a capability to attach the dots between jobs and take dangers to study new issues.
Born and raised in New York City, Chris studied electrical engineering expertise at Rochester Institute of Technology in New York the place college students have been required to finish co-ops (internships) as part of their sophomore/junior and junior/senior years. His first internship was with Motorola.
“At Motorola, I was turned on to Cisco because I was in the customer support organization trouble-shooting their modems, and every call I got was, ‘I have a Motorola modem connected to a Cisco router’ so I wanted to learn more about how this Cisco router worked with the Motorola modem,” stated Chris.
How Chris Chose Cisco and Vice Versa
Recruiters got here to Chris’ school campus in search of interns. Chris interviewed with Cisco after his curiosity was sparked interning at Motorola. Soon after, Chris was flown to San Jose to satisfy the hiring supervisor and three check engineers who drew on the whiteboard and requested how he would clear up completely different conditions.
“When I landed [in New York], I already had a voice message saying, ‘Congratulations, you’ve been chosen for this internship,’” says Chris. The intern place was a check engineer on Cisco’s Repair Operations crew. Chris had the chance to return to Motorola, however he was impressed that Cisco flew him to San Jose for an interview and nonetheless remembers the totally stocked break rooms with free drinks, popcorn, and sweet – completely different from something he’d skilled on the East Coast. It appeared definitely worth the danger to attempt one thing new quite than going again to Motorola.
“People were walking around in shorts and flip-flops,” stated Chris. “In my mind, this was so California, a little laid back. Northern California and Silicon Valley in the 90s had a different vibe, and that was something I was interested in.” He moved to San Jose and lived within the dorms at San Jose State University for the summer time.
Connecting the Dots Between Work and the Classroom
The Cisco internship was completely hands-on. The Repair Operations crew needed to handle gadgets in for restore from the second they arrived till they have been shipped again out. “Before, I sat in the cubicle,” stated Chris. “With this job, I went to the factory floor.”
They have been accountable for the circulation, the check scripts to ensure issues have been working appropriately, and for updates. Chris would rotate each two weeks to study completely different components of the method. They additionally developed a check line on the manufacturing ground and generally simulated a failure and requested the place the issue was.
“Learning how to find where things were broken helped me learn how they worked, and my internship experience was very good,” says Chris.
Chris rapidly made the connection between the restore work he was doing at Cisco and the technical assist work from his Motorola expertise and tied all of it again to what he was studying for his Electrical Engineering Technology diploma. It all got here collectively, and he may additionally apply what he discovered on the job to the idea he was finding out at school.
Surprise on the Job
One Saturday, Chris stunned his boss. “It was Saturday, all my friends were, out and I had nothing to do, so I decided to go to Cisco, go to the lab and do some work,” he stated. “I
put together some test racks to take to the factory, blasted the music, and closed the doors behind me. Then all of a sudden, the music stops,” stated Chris.
It was his supervisor, who checked out him and requested, “What are you doing here?” Chris defined after which requested his supervisor the identical query. His supervisor stated his household was away tenting and invited Chris to the flicks after which dinner. It was an surprising second that left an impression on each of them.
Chris returned to highschool across the Thanksgiving vacation. Weeks handed. Then, on January 5, Cisco’s recruiter phoned Chris. “How’d you like to come to Cisco full-time when you graduate?” requested the recruiter.
Chris was shocked at how early the supply arrived, as full-time provides are often made within the spring. According to his supervisor, “Any 20-year-old willing to come in on a Saturday is someone I’d love to have on the team.”
Chris doubts that this one incident was accountable for his touchdown the job however insists that it was the serendipity of this occasion and the optimistic impression he made with crew members as somebody straightforward to work with that contributed to this end result.
Twenty-six years and plenty of roles later, Chris remains to be having fun with the alternatives at Cisco, and far of his work right this moment entails leaving a legacy for future generations to develop and develop satisfying careers.
He attributes longevity at Cisco to the power to have a number of alternatives and completely different careers and the assist of leaders and mentors all through the corporate.
“It was life-changing for me to go back to college after the internship,” says Chris. “It was a lot of work, but I didn’t think of it as a job. It’s always been about fun and learning. This is why I’ve stayed as long as I have.”
His recommendation for these searching for internships and job alternatives?
“When you’re here [in the job or internship] it’s always an interview, even when you don’t think others are paying attention. The opportunity to make a good impression isn’t when you get the internship. It happens the minute you walk through the door.”
Think of your complete expertise as an interview, since you’re not simply interacting together with your crew and different groups.
Chris says this expertise gave him his first glimpse into what professionalism meant, how individuals interacted and engaged, and helped him mature in his profession as he returned to varsity.
“Even if you’re there for three months, you don’t know what [others] will think,” says Chris. “Even though you may be classified as an intern, think of it as an interview to see how you work in that environment.”
Chris’ Advice for Interns
-Don’t be afraid of the chance; the employer doesn’t count on you to know every little thing.
-Employers need contemporary views from a school scholar – contemporary concepts and new set of eyes.
-Don’t be afraid to interact and meet new individuals inside new organizations and this will increase your community inside that group together with together with your friends. (Chris remains to be associates with members of his co-op group from school, a lot of whom are actually administrators and VPs at different firms.)
-Networking is essential with group and together with your friends as nicely. Learn as a lot as you may throughout and after the internship.
Share: