Interning at a Company with My Values

How the TigerConnect Values Shaped My Summer Internship Experience

This past summer, I joined TigerConnect as a Marketing Intern. The TigerConnect mission and values inspired me to apply for an internship; I was excited by the idea of working for a company that’s transforming care delivery and making a positive impact in the healthcare industry. 

It’s always been important to me that I work somewhere that shares my values. After ten weeks at TigerConnect, I can attest that the TigerConnect Values — Be Human, Move Fast, Think Big, Be Curious, Follow the Facts, Us before Me, and Own It — aren’t just something to slap on a swag bag, they’re an innate part of working here, and we live by them every day. 

Here’s how the TigerConnect values shaped my ten weeks as a Marketing Intern at TigerConnect.

 

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Be Human

When I first interviewed, I couldn’t help but notice how genuine the people here are. My interviewing nerves quickly wore off, and I felt like I was chatting with a friend. Those are the kind of interactions I had all summer — my team made me feel welcome, valued, and included.

The people here are genuine, down-to-earth, and know how to have fun. But it’s not all Kahoot games, yoga, and virtual happy hours. My team is full of intelligent, hardworking people who hold each other to high standards. We’re in this together and made better by each other — listening, learning, and giving feedback are part of the day-to-day at TigerConnect. If you’re not asking questions, you’re doing something wrong. 

Move Fast, Think Big

There’s no virtual equivalent to coffee runs and cleaning out storage cabinets, or if there is, I wouldn’t know. 

One of my goals for this internship was for my impact to outlive my time at TigerConnect. In other words, I wanted my work to be valuable and continue to be valuable after I went back to school. TigerConnect made this easy — I was kept busy with high-impact projects all summer, from SEO writing to podcast planning. 

Things move fast here; part of working at a scale-up like TigerConnect is adapting to shifting priorities. I often found myself switching gears to meet the needs of my team — whether that meant putting a project on hold to help with a time-sensitive issue or finding myself most useful in areas I hadn’t anticipated. 

Be Curious

A good internship is, above all, a learning experience. I am thankful to have worked in a team committed to making the most out of my ten weeks. 

This summer, TigerConnect exposed me to nearly every aspect of marketing. My supervisors regularly checked in to make sure I was trying everything I wanted to and developing skills I could take with me in the future. If there was something I wanted to learn, I was able to. Being able to dip my toe in all different kinds of marketing has been one of the most valuable aspects of my internship and allowed me to get a sense of what I would like to do post-grad.

Follow the Facts

As any marketing professor will tell you, decisions should be data-driven. This summer, I learned that’s easier said than done. At TigerConnect, everything comes down to the data. Being in the healthcare space, it’s not difficult to imagine why. We’re relentlessly curious and analytical, using all available data to get to the facts.

This summer, I witnessed how a marketing team makes those data-driven decisions and even did research myself. I learned a lot by watching my team use data to inform business goals and decisions. I did research, too — from building out buyer personas to competitive social media analyses. My work is helping make strategic decisions across the marketing department.

Us before Me

“Me first” doesn’t work here. We’re all working together towards the shared mission of improving healthcare. For example, with the TigerConnect product relaunch in August, everyone stepped up to complete what felt like the impossible. Even at our most busy, my team was empathetic and cognizant of the stress and deadlines we were all under. 

‘Us before Me’ means making tough decisions in the interest of the greater good. With the delta variant surging in LA county, the executive team moved our annual Midsummers Week online. I was excited to see everyone in person — we all were — but it was undoubtedly the right decision to call it off. I am thankful for TigerConnect’s commitment to our health and safety, even when doing so isn’t easy. 

Own It

‘Own It’ runs deep in the TigerConnect culture. It’s about holding yourself accountable for actions, decisions, and results, even when things go wrong. I certainly wasn’t expecting to hear the CEO be so candid about where we’ve been, where we are, and where we’re headed to the entire company in a Monthly All Hands meeting. But that’s just the kind of transparency — the kind of ‘Owning It’ — that’s expected here. 

‘Owning It’ also means committing to solving a problem and following through. Early into my internship, I was working on what I thought was going to be a one-off project when I noticed something wrong with a pdf file. After digging a little deeper, I realized the problem was part of a larger issue that simply could not be ignored. The issue quickly turned into a months-long project involving nearly the entire department, with myself unintentionally becoming the point person. I didn’t hand the project off to someone else or put it on the back burner — it was a beast that I discovered and was mine to Own. 

Conclusion

I am lucky to have interned at a company that is making the world a better place. I regularly hear stories about how TigerConnect is transforming healthcare — from expediting care team collaboration to helping frontline workers with PTSD. It is these kinds of stories that make me happy to open my laptop every day.  

I can’t recommend interning at TigerConnect enough. If you are looking for a fulfilling, high-impact internship, apply for a TigerConnect internship.

July 2022 Update

After completing her Bachelor’s degree, Mary Sullivan has returned to TigerConnect as a Marketing Communications Specialist. The TigerConnect team is so excited to welcome Mary back!

Tags: Company Culture, TigerConnect Values, TigerConnect, Internship