My name is Lauren Palazzi, and I am the Marketing Intern here at TeraGo. Over the past 2 months, I have had the opportunity to discover lots of new things about the IT industry, TeraGo and myself.  I have highlighted 3 of the main takeaways from my time at TeraGo so far and interning 100% remotely.

Working remotely

When I was told my internship would be fully remote, I wasn’t sure what to expect.  To be honest, I wasn’t overly keen on the fact that I wouldn’t be able to meet my co-workers face to face or have a traditional office experience.  I thought it would be really difficult to adjust to the online environment but after only a few days, I realized how easy it was to effectively communicate with my team members and how accessible they all were to me.  I could simply message any member of the team and they would make time to chat. Working 100% remotely is possible and effective!

Using CRM software

Since starting with TeraGo, the marketing team has planned and released many promotional campaigns. I was very fortunate to be given the opportunity to work and observe the team create messaging, segment our clients, and design these promotions. From these projects and help from my co-workers, I was able to learn how to use Salesforce and Pardot to organize and launch the campaigns. This was a very helpful project since Salesforce is a fairly popular program and having a general understanding of it’s functionality will be beneficial in the future. I now know how to schedule promotional emails and direct it to a specific set of customers in hopes to generate sales. Since most marketing roles use a CRM (customer relationship management) program, getting experience in this area is key.

Putting my knowledge and skill to practice

One of my first projects I started working on was writing case studies on some of the customers TeraGo has assisted and how our solutions were beneficial to them. I was assigned this project on my very first day of working with the company. I was a little nervous to take on my own project right off the bat, but in retrospect, it was the best way for me to learn. I was able to use my schooling and apply it to skills that I can now implement into real-life business scenarios. For those seeking internship opportunities in the future or currently interning at a company, don’t be afraid to hit the ground running! That’s where all the fun is.

Overall, I have had a great experience working with the TeraGo marketing team. Working remotely with a team at first can seem challenging – but after a couple of weeks, it becomes a lot easier. I have been exposed to many different personal growth and learning opportunities in such a short period of time and am excited for the next few months here at TeraGo. Internships are a great way to get real world experience while you’re in school, or just out of school and can really help position you favorably for your next role.