HashiCorp Early Careers: Preparing interns for the real world

In honor of National Intern Day, we spoke with six HashiCorp interns to learn about their experiences in the Early Career Program and how it’s preparing them for the future.

From left to right:

Garret Roberts Sales Development Representative Intern, Suffolk University

Kayla Nuñez Sales Development Representative Intern, Arizona State University

Bella Bertagnolli Software Engineering Intern, University of Utah

Tierra Gentle People Team Generalist Intern, Benefits, Arizona State University

Garima Sharma Product Manager Intern, Waypoint, University of Illinois - Urbana Champaign

Diego Aranda Sales Development Representative Intern, University of North Texas

»What achievement stands out from your summer with HashiCorp?

Garret Roberts: The achievement I am most proud of during my first month at HashiCorp is getting familiar with their products and technology. Coming from a sports management background and being relatively unfamiliar with the tech space, the complexity of the products was intimidating at first. However, throughout my time here, I have gained familiarity with HashiCorp products and the problems they solve within multi-cloud infrastructure. This gives me the ability to have productive conversations with clients that can benefit from HashiCorp’s tools, and now I look forward to booking my first meeting!

Kayla Nunez: When I was little I was extremely shy, I barely ever spoke, and I despised eye contact. Yet I now make an average of more than 100+ weekly calls to complete strangers in federal agencies to help drive interest in HashiCorp. If it weren't for this internship, I would never have realized that I was capable of achieving such a feat.

Bella Bertagnolli: I’m proud that I was able to finish the functionality for the initial release of the Metadata API Terraform provider. I started this project at the beginning of my internship and have been working towards getting it to production so the other infrastructure teams can use it to track infrastructure components. It was very rewarding to finally publish it to my team’s TFC organization so other developers can try using it. I’m proud that I was able to overcome the obstacles in the creation of the provider as well as in the testing and integration. Coming to HashiCorp I had no experience with (HashiCorp Configuration Language (HCL) or Go and now I feel comfortable writing and reading code in both.

Tierra Gentle: My project consisted of developing creative ways to bring awareness to the wellness benefits that HashiCorp provides. My manager had been itching to get something off the ground for a while. He passed me the torch and I ran with it. After outlining a few ideas, I set up calls with partnering vendors and raised the idea of hosting webinars for full-time employees and private sessions for the Early Career Program, which had never been done before. After a solid month of planning, I co-hosted my first employee engagement event. This achievement was the highlight of my summer. I felt relief and a sense of gratitude. I was so proud of myself for all the work I put into it and for it to become a success.

Garima Sharma: This summer I am working on a brand new feature in HashiCorp Waypoint's workflow. I am extremely proud of my ownership over this and the ability to play a role in the entire product development process. For instance, one key component is customer discovery, where we write about user stories and develop personas for people who might use this feature. I was able to conduct user research with customers and internal HashiCorp. The user research helped us develop user journeys and wireframes for the feature. Meeting with all these different people helped me understand how our feature can best help our users and their workflows.

Diego Aranda: During my internship at HashiCorp, I took on my first sales role. The role-play presentation was a bit of a struggle, but I used that experience to improve and gain confidence. After weeks of consistent work, I eventually secured my first meeting with the Executive Director of Cloud Security at a company our team had been prospecting for a while. I had experienced so many rejections prior to that call, which helped me work through his objections and score a meeting. Sharing my experiences and advice with fellow interns has also been rewarding. Overall, my internship at HashiCorp has been transformative, teaching me resilience, the value of learning from others, and the importance of practice.

»How is HashiCorp preparing you for real-world working experiences?

Garret: Since I joined HashiCorp, each day of the internship has felt like a stepping stone to my desired career. From the first day, I have been immersed in meaningful sales meetings and the everyday practices of a full-time Sales Development Representative, which has been great for learning the team’s workflows and best practices. As an SDR intern, I was given access to tools like Outreach, Salesforce, and LinkedIn Sales Navigator to prospect clients who could benefit from HashiCorp’s cloud operating model. The skills learned in this workflow are applicable in any sales environment and give me confidence going forward in my future sales endeavors.

Kayla: If someone were to ask me what industry I would want to work in, I never would have expected it to be in software. I honestly never saw myself as someone who was "well equipped" to go into STEM. But I've found that within sales, with enough hard work, just about anyone can learn the technicalities that are required for a job in the software industry. What’s harder to learn are the soft skills needed to build a deeper understanding of your role and relationships within a company. Specifically, Kindness: a key HashiCorp principle. And kindness goes a long way, more than most people may realize.

Bella Bertagnolli: As soon as I joined Hashicorp I felt like a real member of my team. I wasn’t given a sandbox intern project that didn’t go into production but put on the real work that my team needed to do. I was given Jira tasks and worked alongside engineers to create something of value for the company. I now feel much more confident in my ability to write code, work with others, and be a productive member of an engineering team. In comparison to my past internships, HashiCorp has given me the most opportunity for real-world work experience and prepared me for a full-time role. Even in a remote setting, I have been able to make connections with my teammates and other interns. The HashiCorp Early Careers program has given me opportunities to learn about the company as a whole and support my career growth and development through intern events.

Tierra: My summer with HashiCorp has exposed me to various modes of communication, public speaking, problem-solving, and analytics. My role requires me to manage inquiries regarding benefit enrollments, life events, escalations, and general questions. Through this I’ve learned the importance of emotional intelligence and optimal ways for assisting different demographics of people. I also planned, facilitated, and presented a series of educational Wellness Benefits events. Our benefits series allowed me to witness HashiCorp’s commitment to diversity and inclusion firsthand, and see_ my_ impact and influence on individuals. This experience has truly set me up for success. I will be forever grateful for the skills and knowledge the company has given me.

Garima: HashiCorp gave me the opportunity to gain visibility and ownership over projects that provide real-world impact. Unlike in school, where we learn by exams, HashiCorp allows me to “learn by doing”. Whether sitting in on customer calls or taking ownership over key deliverables, the work I am doing in my internship this summer will have a direct impact on my team/product, and it is incredible to work for a company that allows those early in their career to play a role in such decisions.

Diego: At HashiCorp, I've gained excellent preparation for real-world working experiences, particularly in sales. I've learned that sales is not just about closing deals — it's a skill that permeates every aspect of life. Whether it's a job interview or building personal relationships, the ability to effectively sell yourself and your ideas is essential. People naturally gravitate towards those they like and trust, making strong relationships vital. HashiCorp's environment has allowed me to connect with people from different teams, emphasizing the power of networking. Moreover, my confidence has soared during my time here, which is crucial in the world of sales. I've had the opportunity to approach high-level executives, realizing that taking risks and believing in oneself can yield great results. HashiCorp has equipped me with valuable skills — emotional connections, networking, and confidence — that will contribute to my personal and professional growth.