Hello folks,
My name is Brian, and I was fortunate enough to be able to intern at Broadcom this past summer as a software engineering intern. This will have been my second summer with Broadcom, and it was better than the last.
I mostly worked on efforts to modernize access and usability of mainframe systems these past summers. Last summer I was working on an internal software development kit to be used by our product developers as they build out products. This summer I wanted to get closer to the product and my lovely managers allowed me to do just that! So for this past summer I worked on a workload automation project, developing and building out new features.
To avoid possible legal action against me and preserve my chances of coming back again I’ll leave the technicals at that.
This summer was more of the same.
There was more collaboration. The product team that I worked with was much larger than the team I worked with last summer. I was given access to work and collaborate with so many amazing engineers to create the product. They were mostly making sure I'm not breaking too many things. Against my best efforts I broke a lot. However at every step of the way, my peers were always there to help. From simply hearing me rant to solve my own problems to pointing me in the right direction.
There was more learning. Last summer I went wide to try to understand the product suite that Broadcom offers its customers. This summer I went down to the bottom, learning about the inner workings of the infrastructure behind our products. I reached out to other teams and experts in the company, with each of them giving time out of their busy days to teach me their expertise. From mainframes software hosting to storage solutions, I was able to learn so much about how we convert innovation to dollar signs at Broadcom.
There was more opportunity. I was given the chance to go to an annual conference hosted by the Enterprise Computing Community . My first ever work trip. And I was excited, but cautious. I wanted to do it right. I got right to work preparing for my trip, planning each step carefully. What was I going to say? What I was going to ask? What were my goals for the trip? What do I want to accomplish? What started as simply being a part of a panel quickly evolved into also preparing to lead a session. My plans went awry, but I was adjusted and supported. I quickly prepared and practiced. Enabled by my managers and encouraged by my peers, I was able to lead a session at the conference. It was such a rewarding experience and opportunity that I don’t think I could have gotten anywhere else.
All in all it, and most importantly, it was more fun. It was more of the things I was looking forward to in my career.