Aside from her work at Cisco, Gia is also passionate about her hobby of powerlifting. She recently placed first in the Virginia Battle on the Border with a total lift of nearly 900 lbs.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cThere is more tangible work in the Cisco internship,\u201d Gia said. \u201cYou do things that are meaningful. You do research, go back to your mentor and \u2018lab it out\u2019 and then present to the customer,\u201d she said, adding that it\u2019s a goal for every intern in the group to interact directly with customers.<\/p>\n

After her internship, Gia built a business case to continue as a part-time intern until graduation, then interned full-time in the summer of 2021 before she was hired full-time. Due to the pandemic, Gia worked remotely when she was an intern but relocated to Research Triangle Park, NC when she was hired full-time. She has since relocated back to Upstate New York but was glad to work with her team in person. She now knows the internship program from both sides and appreciates why it\u2019s so successful.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re looking for the right technical background to at least show that you\u2019re on the right track, but more important than the knowledge is if they\u2019re self-starters and motivated,\u201d she said. \u201cWe can teach you the technical skills that you may or may not be lacking. But if you don\u2019t know how to communicate and be a person, if you\u2019re not actually interested in being here, we can\u2019t really help you at that point.\u201d<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s secret to bringing in great interns is pre-screening for basic skills, then open-ended interviews to get real answers. After that, it\u2019s up to the interns to show what they can do. \u201cIt\u2019s like a summer-long interview. We look at how they would mesh with the team,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

As a full-time employee, Gia has benefitted from the early-in-career programs that Cisco offers. She says it\u2019s like an internship turned up a notch. There is dedicated time for training, shadowing, and learning consulting skills that tapers off as newly hired team members transition into their roles by the end of their first year.<\/p>\n

With onboarding behind her, and mentoring now on her plate, Gia is thinking about her own future. She\u2019s building her annual training plan with a focus on automation, but she\u2019s in no hurry to leave the team she loves. \u201cThe biggest asset is the people, and I stand by that. The people who choose to be here are all on the same wavelength, and we make connections and learn new things.\u201d<\/p>\n

Her advice to potential interns: \u201cLook for somewhere that is going to enable you to learn as much as you can, whether you stay or not,\u201d she says. \u201cResources, training, and certifications are huge pluses. Identify what you want, set a goal, and reach out to find someone who will help you.\u201d<\/p>\n