Summer Intern | Product Analyst at Copart

This summer, I had the incredible opportunity to contribute as a Product Owner Intern at Copart, a global leader in online vehicle auctions and remarketing services. With operations spanning multiple countries and a reputation for innovation and excellence, Copart facilitates the sale of millions of vehicles each year.

My internship at Copart marked my transition from dynamic startups to the corporate world and was my first direct involvement in product management. I focused on defining and tracking key performance indicators, conducting regular metric analyses, engaging in cross-border business operations, capturing and prioritizing product needs, ensuring timely feature implementation, and deriving user behavior insights from interaction data. This experience highlighted the importance of understanding the intricacies of lot procurement and the processes required before auction readiness, as well as the value of project management and product analytics.

The internship exposed me to industry-standard agile practices and tools, including JIRA and Confluence for project management, SQL for data extraction, and Tableau for visualization. It introduced me to the technicalities of the different stages a salvage vehicle undergoes, from assignment creation and title procurement to auction and selling.

I am grateful to my manager, Hafeez O , whose support and encouragement were crucial to my development. His trust in me and effective leadership provided valuable lessons in people skills, while his meticulous planning and approach offered a glimpse into extraordinary project management skills.

A significant factor in my growth was my mentor, Aditi Vatse , who guided me in analyzing problems from various perspectives and taught me the importance of storytelling in presenting ideas. Additionally, working closely with Chandra Shekar Gandla , the Director of Technology, provided valuable insights into problem-solving, product thinking, and development.

Overall, my internship experience at Copart exceeded my expectations in every way. I am grateful for the opportunity to have learned from such a talented and passionate group of individuals. With exciting projects lined up for this Fall 2024, I’m eager to continue honing my skills and knowledge in product management.