Article From Interns to Full-time Teammates: Why Insight Is a Great Place to Work
By Laila Hachem / 9 Jan 2024 / Topics: Culture & careers
Thinking of applying for an internship or just starting your career? Hear the highlights that influenced some of Insight’s Summer 360 Interns to stay.
The stories shared in this "From Intern to Full-time Teammate" series will not soon leave me. As an intern myself, it has been both fascinating and insightful to hear the career paths of some of Insight’s rising teammates. I hope you enjoy the highlights from the series as much as I have enjoyed making it. Thank you to my interviewees for their authenticity.
Why Insight?
"I was interested in Insight when first applying due to its placement in the industry. After going past the application and submitting it, I dug deeper. I started to do a lot of research about Insight; who they were, their values and their culture. It really meant a lot to me. The teammate resource group we have, Insight Stands Out, is for our LGBTQ+ teammates. As a gay person myself, that means a lot to me to have a company that really supports their teammates from all levels."
Brock Jacobs
"When I started as an intern, I really got to see the leadership and culture of Insight. The leaders of the company were prominent during the internship program. The CEO, founders and senior leaders met with the interns; I thought it was awesome that Insight cared about their interns that much. During my other internship after the summer, I got even closer with my manager and team. I really enjoy my job and coworkers; I love coming to work. The values aren’t just words — the company really follows through, especially our leadership."
Cayla Millar
"Everyone lives our values of hunger, heart and harmony. Everyone here wants to be a mentor and help interns grow. After the internship program, I knew I would be back."
Shae-Lynn Whitaker
"Everyone lives our values of hunger, heart and harmony…After the internship program, I knew I would be back."
"The most exciting thing to me about the work Insight does is seeing the results of helping our clients. There are case studies of Insight and how we’ve helped hospitals reduce their patient length of stay, or how we have helped provide a wireless connection to schools in need. One of my favorite parts about working at Insight is seeing the difference that we make in real people’s lives and real communities. That is certainly the most exciting thing for me."
Lauren Kawalec
How was your journey through Insight from intern to now?
"I had a marketing role during the internship program, but it wasn’t attuned to my personality. I craved working in a team — the independent work didn’t draw me in. I was under the marketing umbrella where I worked on email campaigns and the insight.com storefront. I attribute my current job to my willingness to take on projects with the DLOD (Diversity, Leadership and Organizational Development) team during my internship."
Brock Jacobs
"I applied for my internship after speaking to my friend who worked at Insight. My friend thought I was a cultural fit, so I applied and used them as a reference. I didn’t quite know what I had gotten myself into as the internship was for project management. I really enjoyed my project management internship and wanted to continue in the role but there just wasn’t an opportunity for that. I remained in contact with my manager and teammates after the summer program ended.
My manager reached out to me on LinkedIn with an opening for an internship on the marketing enablement team. I interned in the last semester of my senior year on the marketing enablement team. Halfway through the internship, they opened a full-time position for a marketing coordinator. I had fallen in love with my job and wanted to continue working on my team, so I applied. After the application and interviews, I got the coordinator job. There really are lots of opportunities for growth at Insight."
Cayla Millar
"During the internship program, I was a project management intern and now I’m in HR. My career path has changed a lot. After the internship program, I knew I would be back, but I still had some college to finish. My internship solidified my interest in HR."
Shae-Lynn Whitaker
"As a web content intern, I got to work on a lot of the work that I do now in my job every day. It’s so rewarding that Insight gives their interns real work to do. I feel I’m equipped for my job now because of the skills that I learned in my internship. It’s been a great experience to transition from an intern to a full-time teammate."
Lauren Kawalec
What is your favorite thing about working at Insight?
"I stayed at Insight because of the culture and the people. I mean, you really can’t get it anywhere else. I was starting to apply for jobs during my internship but was hopeful and wanted to stay at Insight. It was a struggle to find a job that I was passionate about or excited me the way Insight did. I wanted to stay and develop myself; I couldn’t see myself anywhere else."
Brock Jacobs
"It was a struggle to find a job that I was passionate about or excited me the way Insight did. I wanted to stay and develop myself; I couldn’t see myself anywhere else."
"My favorite thing about working at Insight is the people. I really love bringing people together. I love having a manager that understands it’s an area of passion and allows me to do work to fit that passion. I talk to friends at other Fortune 500 companies, and they don’t have the ability to figure out how they can implement their ideas. The leadership here wants teammates’ input and lets you follow your aspirations."
Cayla Millar
"Honestly, my favorite thing about Insight is flexibility. I have an extremely good work-life balance. I also like that we have remote positions; that’s how I’m able to work from across the country."
Emily Pencek
"My favorite thing about Insight is the continued development of teammates. We have a platform called Percipio, where you have access to hundreds if not thousands of courses in all kinds of things. It’s completely free for teammates. We can access it at any time.
We also have our DLOD (Diversity, Leadership and Organizational Development) team that puts out monthly seminars that you can attend when it suits you. For example, I’m taking one next month that’s Death by PowerPoint. I’m taking this course to learn how to be a better presenter and create a better PowerPoint. It seems so simple, but it’s little things like that that will continuously grow our teammates. Our leaders constantly push us to learn and develop."
Shae-Lynn Whitaker
How would you describe the culture at Insight?
"Tons of companies will say that they have great culture, right? I mean it when I say Insight’s culture is great. I have yet to meet someone that says otherwise. The warmth and support are unparalleled. If you ask any employee why they like Insight, my bet is they will say the culture. It’s the number one thing.
Even as an intern my perspective was always valued and taken into account. Everyone gives you a fair shot. You’re never treated as a temporary employee. If you were to ask me why Insight, I would probably say it’s the first time in my life that I felt connected to something bigger than just myself."
Brock Jacobs
"The culture is very welcoming. I’ll be at headquarters and Joyce, our CEO, will just be waiting in line for coffee and chatting with teammates. I mean, I don’t know any other company where the CEO goes through the front door and interacts with everyone. It’s refreshing to see. Also, it’s nice having the opportunity to speak with leadership that is open to helping you get where you want in your career. If you want a career change or are looking to pursue leadership roles, they are more than willing to help you find a place at Insight to fulfill that."
Cayla Millar
"A culture that encourages challenge. When I started as an intern, I had experience writing since I was a journalism major. I also took a lot of public relations and advertising classes in college. I always had an interest in communication strategies and marketing research, but I didn’t necessarily have any experience writing for websites or doing search engine optimization work.
Once I got to Insight, I was provided the resources to help me learn those skills. The same can be said about my first role at Insight as a marketing coordinator on our public sector team. When I was hired as a marketing coordinator, I was doing a lot of work with marketing campaigns, email campaigns and paid media, which I didn’t have a ton of experience with either at the time.
Regardless, I learned those skills, and I think how they shape the way I think about my work and how I complete my work today. I didn’t have much experience in those skills, but because I was willing to try something new and take on a new challenge, it set me up for success in my current role."
Lauren Kawalec
What advice would you give to someone early in their career?
"It’s OK to explore. You may get a job and realize it’s not fit for you. You can go through the whole process of applying, start getting excited for the role and realize months into the job you don’t like it. It’s really about what you do after — seeing which skills you have and what you truly enjoy — to find a job that hones in on your strengths.
In my internship, I was in a marketing role that was not for me. After studying marketing for the past three years, it was a hard pill to swallow. I then opened my mind to other opportunities and vocalized my interest. Nobody will know what you want until you tell them, and the worst that you can get told is no. Even if you get told no, your initiative will be remembered. By exploring the opportunities I had, I found a job I love."
Brock Jacobs
"I would say to be open to not going the route you thought you wanted to go. I thought I would work at an ad agency as an account manager and that’s what I had my heart set on. Then I applied for an internship in marketing at Insight and did my internship and realized I loved the company and job. Stepping outside of the expectations you set for yourself and exploring opportunities will help you uncover your passion. If you think something might interest you, go for it."
Cayla Millar
"Ask questions. Even if you ask and they don’t know the answer, you both have the opportunity to learn. Everyone is new at one point or another, so don’t be afraid to put yourself out there to learn something. Also, get used to answering questions. Make yourself uncomfortable and step out of the box. You need to be uncomfortable for a bit to learn. I don’t think you will ever regret going for it, but can you live with the latter?"
Emily Pencek
"Allow yourself the flexibility to learn and grow into anything that might pique your interest. I feel like as interns or college students, we are kind of put into a niche or one avenue. I love that here at Insight we’re able to explore all kinds of options. Allow yourself that flexibility to discover your passion. Be open to trying new things. Ask where you can participate and reach out for mentorship. Everyone is willing to mentor. When you are early in your career, their expertise can help you find out where you want to go."
Shae-Lynn Whitaker
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Laila Hachem
Summer Marketing Content Intern 2023, Insight
