Each summer, Data Axle brings in talented interns from Boston College to add their support to various departments and teams. Mike Iaccarino, Data Axle’s CEO, is an alum of Boston College and our partnership with the college has delivered year after year a steady flow of exemplary interns. The enthusiasm, unique thinking and fresh set of eyes that our interns provide helps propel us towards our own goals of being a forward-facing, innovative company that is constantly striving to reach higher heights.
As the clock winds down and our interns prepare for their next great adventure, we wanted to share some of their goals, aspirations, lessons learned and next steps with you.
The majority of our interns major in data science, data analytics marketing, business analytics, economics and finance, but we make sure we have a mix of talent and interests in our intern pool. Intern Haleigh Morales, applied to Data Axle because of the diversity of our solutions and services. “After speaking with a few members of the Data Axle team, it was clear I’d be choosing Data Axle for my internship. Not only were they super friendly, but they also wanted to make sure I got experience in any field or subject matter that I was interested in.” Haleigh continues, “To me, having diversity in the work I was doing each day is super important and has made each day/project interesting and exciting.”
Data Axle is a virtual workplace. We do have physical offices for those who enjoy an office environment, but going into a physical office is 100% optional and most Data Axle employees prefer to work from home. Product manager intern, Nadia Capolino, was surprised by how much she learned during her remote internship. “Two things I learned from this summer,” says Nadia, “is the importance of teamwork and how much you can learn from other people, even when working fully remote. I realized how essential it is for the product team to be on the same page with the engineering team, the design team, in order for the bigger picture to be achieved. Secondly, the learning environment promoted within Data Axle also relates to my favorite part of working here which includes its people. I found Data Axle’s community to be a respectful, collaborative and nurturing environment, as I had the chance to talk to a variety of employees, find out more about their experiences, and learn from any advice or suggestions they provided me with.”
Intern Dave Chung, working in our Analytics and Business Intelligence department stresses the importance of networking, even in a remote environment. When asked what advice he would give to Data Axle interns, he says “I would recommend that they try their best to meet with different colleagues, reach out to them, and have casual conversations.”
Corporate Marketing intern, Alex MacDonald, seconds this, with advice to incoming interns to “…make as many connections as quickly as possible, getting to know the people they will be working with over the course of the summer. This shortens the learning curve and allows interns to start doing actual work more quickly.”
Will Flanagan, an intern on a Data Axle client team had two goals for his internship; to gain technical experience and make meaningful contributions to the team. He accomplished both – and his curiosity and willingness to learn was a big part of his success. Data Axle is a complex company with a lot of different services and moving parts. Will says, “The one piece of advice I would lend to 2023 interns would be to listen and take in as much information as possible. The information dump may seem overwhelming at first, but when you stick with it, all the technical and organization specifics begin to make sense.”
Emme O’Toole, a corporate marketing intern, applied to a Data Axle internship because of the complexity of our organization. She encourages other interns to ask questions, “…try to write down as much as you can, ask questions, and learn from those that you’re working with because the summer goes by very quickly.”
Data Axle interns are not here to get coffee – and that shows. Emme O’Toole says, “The best thing I learned was how the atmosphere of a professional company works. It was very helpful for me to sit in on team meetings because I learned the organized nature of how a business week runs. Specifically, I loved being a part of the planning process for the Bridge Conference, a conference that Data Axle is sponsoring in late July. It was interesting to see how much care and thought went into every little decision.”
Software engineer intern, Emma Dalbo, wanted to learn about the real-world practice of software engineering principles, and she feels she accomplished that. Alex MacDonald learned the ins and outs of important popular business applications, such as Hubspot, Salesforce, and WordPress. Enterprise sales intern Chris Kennedy says, “My favorite thing I learned during the internship was how to use different platforms such as Salesforce, Highspot, Demandbase, and ZoomInfo.” He continues, “But I think the most useful was how to put together information in a business setting. A lot of my work was research based and I had to learn how to put together the research in a business setting instead of a school setting. I think learning this skill will be really helpful for my future in business.”
Chris Kennedy says, “I think my favorite part of my internship was just learning as much as I could from my manager. We would have daily meetings where we would talk about the days goals and what we want to get done, but we would also just chat about his career path, my future career, the business landscape in general and all sorts of things like that. And I think that really helped me gain a fresh new viewpoint on my future that I really appreciated.”
Emme also cites mentorship as one of the best parts of working at Data Axle, “My favorite part of my internship is how welcoming and encouraging all of my managers and coworkers have been. They genuinely want to help me in my career journey, are always available for questions, and have been so much fun to work with.”
From heading into their next academic year to teaching abroad to even remaining here at Data Axle, our interns are ready to experience new and exciting challenges.
Sales enablement intern Paula Lara hails from Spain and has to make a tough decision on her next move, “I’m really excited to start my senior year at Boston College. I moved to the US from Spain seven years ago, and I have yet to decide whether I will be staying in Boston after college or come back home!”
Meanwhile, software engineer intern Emma Dalbo, is gearing up for a change of pace, “I’m heading to South Korea to teach English for a year!”
As Content Marketing Manager, Natasia is responsible for helping strategize, produce and execute Data Axle's content. With a passion for writing and an enthusiasm for data management and technology, Natasia creates content that is designed to deliver nuggets of wisdom to help brands and individuals elevate their data governance policies. A native New Yorker, when Natasia is not at work she can be found enjoying New York’s food scene, at one of NYC’s many museums, or at one of the city’s many parks with her two teacup yorkies.