My Experience as Part of Salesforce’s First Ever Virtual Internship

I am halfway through my 12-week virtual summer MBA internship with Salesforce, and it has far exceeded my expectations. From the start, the unique Salesforce culture has shined through, one of light-hearted camaraderie, mutual support, and equality. Before I even began, it manifested itself in tangible ways: my recruiter (who had ushered me through my interviews) calling to cover any concerns regarding the remote experience, Salesforce providing a generous stipend (and surprise swag from the Futureforce team!) to set up my WFH space, or getting roped into a hilarious pre-orientation virtual photo challenge with my fellow interns.

The internship itself kicked off with a virtual Day One orientation alongside 700+ interns from around the globe. Programming included an overview of the summer ahead and opportunities to hear from Salesforce leaders like Brent Hyder, our Chief People Officer, all while a live DJ played in between sessions. From there, my team scooped me up to begin onboarding among my main team.

I’m an MBA Intern on the Event Analytics team, under the broader Marketing Strategy & Analytics organization. We support Strategic Events, the team that drives the multi-faceted planning of Salesforce’s marquee events like Dreamforce, Connections, and TrailheaDX. If you haven’t attended one of these, I highly recommend it - they are a unique combination of large-scale tech conference and high-flying concert experience bringing together luminaries from the corporate, social justice, and entertainment sectors. And now, because they’re remote for the foreseeable future, it is such a unique time to be part of this team. I was excited to begin, to say the least. With the shift to a wholly virtual event platform, the ways in which we engage our customers, and the metrics that define the success of an event, need to be completely re-invented. My team is directly involved in those conversations defining the new normal, and I’m learning so much by being part of them.

My team immediately set me up for success. I was given an onboarding plan complete with the learning modules, project milestones, and networking goals I should be aiming for each week. As any full-time employee, one of my first priorities was to build out my V2MOM. The acronym is ubiquitous at Salesforce and stands for Vision, Values, Methods, Measures, and Obstacles - it’s the tool by which you align your goals with those of your team and the company at large. In my V2MOM, I laid out my project for the summer - to build an enablement strategy for the dashboards and metrics my team curates - and incorporated networking and learning objectives (50 coffee chats and reaching Ranger status in Trailhead, respectively). Since then, I have used my V2MOM to keep myself on track throughout the summer.

In terms of the internship extracurriculars, Salesforce also delivers. Futureforce, Salesforce’s University Recruiting program, curates a full slate of events for all the interns on board this summer, including advanced degree interns such as MBA and PhD. These include a speaker series with the likes of the company’s COO, CTO, and other prolific company leaders, fun challenges like a Jeopardy championship, and team-building activities such as a virtual cooking class or wine tasting. The team has been a joy to work with and they are genuinely dedicated to us interns having the summer of our lives, despite the curveballs that have been thrown as the program went completely virtual this year in light of COVID-19.

Lastly, one cannot mention an MBA internship without highlighting one of its most critical aspects: networking with the people you admire and aspire to be one day. I am a naturally social person, but initially, the thought of networking via video call was daunting. Thankfully, Salesforce thrives on a relationship-driven culture, and every person I have reached out to for a coffee chat has been warm, welcoming, and appreciative of the chance to connect. Six weeks in, I already feel at home here.

In the end, despite the experience being fully remote, the sense of community and magic that would be there under normal circumstances is wholeheartedly intact. Coming from the nonprofit sector, I was excited to finally delve into the world of big tech and walk into the Salesforce Tower as an intern. Though I’ll have to wait to know what that’s like, Salesforce has gone above and beyond to emulate its unique culture and internship experience on a fully remote scale. For that, I am beyond grateful.