My Journey as a Tesla Intern
As I walked into Tesla for the first time, it hit me. It would be the first time working for a company with such a strong presence. I felt excited, yet nervous. Excited to find a way to build myself and deliver value to the team at Tesla. With that goal in mind, I started my journey at Tesla.
As I walked into Tesla for the first time, it hit me. It would be the first time working for a company with such a strong presence. I felt excited, yet nervous. Excited to find a way to build myself and deliver value to the team at Tesla. With that goal in mind, I started my journey at Tesla.
Settling In
I was hired under the Demand Generation, Residential Energy team. Demand Generation, as it sounds is actually working on initiatives that helps generate demand. While communications and sales are roped in easily by this fold, the umbrella is very broad. We worked on any small to large change with a variety of team to drive demand by increasing customers’ interest and awareness for Powerwall, Solar Panels, and Solar Roof.
About a week prior to my start date, my main point of contact and mentor, Visrin reached out for a quick informal, intro call. It felt reassuring knowing that I had someone to reach out from the get-go. Once I arrived at the office, I finally got to meet the team in person and settle in.
It was evident that my team had a huge role to play in the company and I looked forward to being part of it. I spent my first week ramping up on my knowledge with Tesla energy, solar panel and generator market, and the work my team did.
As part of settling in, my mentor actually provided me a list of contacts that I should reach out to. I always knew about this as I heard about it on LinkedIn, but this was the first time I actually did it.
I never realized how much value it provided.
While it may be scary at first, it really did provide more context on the company and learn about areas that I can help add value. This also improved my ability on speaking with professionals and building my confidence in this area.
Another important part of my first week was my 1-on-1 with my manager, Marissa and mentor, Visrin. A scheduled meeting to figure out what they expected from me and also to voice out what I wanted to take away from the internship. This meeting dismissed many of my initial nerves. I remember vividly expressing my interest in learning more about some other departments and roles down the line as I get further acquainted into the roles in the company and that was encouraged. I feared that it might be looked down upon because the nature of it meant exploring work outside their team. But they both were extremely supportive of my personal growth and making decisions for the best of my career.
Finding my place in three months
A year at Tesla is in fact two years of real-world experience. I heard this saying during lunch with my team and only understood it on the surface level. As I started diving into projects, this statement began to resonate with me. From innovation to delivery -
Tesla moves fast.
Before I knew it, I was invited to all types of meetings — campaigns, weekly overviews, and more. Even though I would be the sole intern in a room at times, it was useful in building my presence and learning more about the different roles and responsibilities in the company. The best part about these meetings is that by listening to conversations, I expanded my perspective. By broadening my understanding, I opened my mind to new ideas and projects that could be of value to the team.
As an intern, you are encouraged to speak up on any ideas. They are always looking for a fresh pair of eyes. People value a fresh take and new perspective because they want the business to improve. It can be nerve-wracking initially in a large meeting setting when you are new. But you never know what can happen. Your idea can be bounced around and turned into a new campaign.
Ideas were never dismissed but discussed.
Starting off one of my first big projects was building out an internal tool for the team that would streamline upcoming/completed email campaigns. One thing in particular that stood out when I was told about this was that my manager did not have clear expectations on how to create, but instead focused on the what they needed. They had expectations for this tool and entrusted me to deliver the solution. As I thought about platforms, maintenance, and experience for this tracker, the knowledge from those many meetings came into perspective. I sought to see how this could tackle other concerns and integrate that in as well. Even though, I came from a technical background that does not mean I should create something complicated because my team does not have the same expertise. This is where having review sessions with my mentor were beneficial. These sessions challenged me to continuously improve my work with the feedback I received.
I found great value in team meetings and 1-on-1s to clear up any concerns I had, share my findings, and take up new work. At Tesla, people are open to provide feedback and are open to discussing ways to improve. My team did the same for me. Whether it was a mini review session or via email, you are able to get feedback and learn more.
All you have to do is ask.
Providing quality and meaningful value to the team was my utmost priority. As your managers and team get acquainted with your work, they will begin to expand your scope of work.
Three months may seem long, but it goes by in a blink of an eye. With a month away from the end of my internship, I decided to ask about extending my internship. I believed the work I delivered so far was only a start. I expressed my interest to take more projects and owning them with my manager and mentor. It was a conversation I had to initiate. I am glad I did so because now that I found my place, I could make an impact. My team was excited. They were stoked to have me till the end of May. That in itself motivated me to work harder. This also gave me a chance to branch out as well.
Branching out
Another part of extending my internship was in the hopes of getting experience in Product. I enjoyed my team, but I still wanted to gain exposure into a Product Manager role. My mentor at Tesla heard my request and connected me with a Product Manager, Brittany Keith. I expressed my interest in product management and wanted to gain experience. This led to a side project on her team to improve a scheduling tool for the mobile service managers.
I participated in sprint sessions, spoke to users about improvements, drafted design ideas, presented design ideas in front of engineers, and created a ticket for this project. Engineers will ask you questions on, “why a button is located here?” or “what the purpose of this feature is?” That is because you, as the Product Manager need to be the spokesperson for the customer and how this is essential for their use. The engineers want to validate that their efforts are worthwhile, so their questions are ensuring that the design is optimized for what is being asked.
There is no experience like the real thing.
It is easy to read about being a product manager but being the person in the room facilitating these conversations is another story. By experiencing this myself, I learned how to deal with these scenarios. It also excited me to take up similar projects in the future.
Establishing a Presence
Another huge project I dealt with was chat. In particular, I focused on mining tens of thousands of chats with customers to seek out any trends and learnings. This was interesting to me. As an aspiring Product Manager, customer feedback is important because it validates the products you are creating. By learning about the customer base through these chats, I can better understand customer expectations.
From text analysis to creating data visualizations, I finished the first chunk of the task. Next, I compiled the insights into a comprehensive presentation that highlighted trends, flagged areas of improvements, and recommended solutions. At last, I reached the day to present.
I led my first meeting in front of several managers who impacted chat. I remember sending out a recap email and receiving a reply saying, “Thank you, this was very helpful.” My manager and mentor supported me throughout the entire process by giving me tips beforehand and praising me after.
That is when I knew I made an impact.
Leading this initiative was new and came with challenges, but also growth opportunities. The process of analyzing chats began in Excel, but overtime became less manual. My background in Computer Science proved valuable in working alongside data scientists to discuss the specifications of a Python script to automate the insights.
I remember vividly that this first iteration, I spent about 3–4 review sessions with my mentor. Over time, the quality of the insights improved, and my mentor would quickly review once via email. Soon enough, I became the go-to person about chat conversations. I established a weekly cadence of these insights and learnings to key stakeholders.
I began having side conversations with other employees about my insights and how it can provide value for them. Through these conversations, I found ways to continue to improve. The work I did was validated across many teams and this only motivates me to work harder. Hearing my team express their appreciation for my work felt great.
I developed my sense of ownership and instincts. These boosted my confidence and comfort as someone determined to establish a presence in the workforce.
Final Thoughts
Leaving Tesla was not easy. I had a great team and support system. I honed my skills and became more confident here. I figured out the importance of adding value and presenting solutions.
What started out to be a 3-month gig turned out to be 9 months of challenges, learnings, and growth. That brings to me to another realization I had.
Your work speaks volume.
You might not see it at first, but you will know it when it happens. As I started consolidating my work, creating reference material for ongoing projects, and tying up loose ends, I saw it. I understood what I was leaving behind and felt proud of what I accomplished.
While Tesla is constantly accelerating forward, there is always room to make an impact. You just need to find the opportunity and take full advantage of it.
Originally published at https://www.linkedin.com.
