We recently caught up with Eby about her internship with Equinix, what she did to make her application stand out and the most important things she learned on the way.
What stood out to you about Equinix?
It seemed like such an amazing company. I’d heard stories from colleagues and staff members who were excited about the work they were doing. Equinix communicated that online as well. I checked out some of the staff on LinkedIn and everyone had such great things to say about working at Equinix.
How did you make your application stand out?
Around the time I was applying, I read a book about careers and the value that people bring to companies. It said I needed to find my personal values as well as the company’s values. I had the mindset that I wasn’t going to work for a company whose values didn’t align with mine. So, I highlighted the value that I would bring to Equinix and included the values I was interested in in the working environment in my application and throughout the interview process.
I wanted to work for a company that had a positive working environment where staff were supported, felt safe and felt that they belong. That was the greatest thing I took from the internship - it’s possible to work in a healthy environment where your managers support you and you enjoy what you’re doing. Equinix has a belonging department that helps staff to feel like they belong - it was absolutely amazing! The objective was to make sure all staff could say: I belong, I matter and I’m doing great work. This is exactly how I felt towards Equinix. I felt like I belonged and I felt the support from everyone from top to bottom.
What are your top tips for tackling tough interview questions?
- Be yourself, be honest and be prepared.
- Be honest with whatever questions they’re asking you.
- Be yourself because you don’t want to pretend to be someone you’re not. You want your personality to shine through.
- Be prepared for the interview. Before the interview, learn about the company, learn what they do, try to understand why you’re interested in this. Find out if your values match the company’s
What were the typical tasks included in your role?
Very exciting stuff! I worked with the customer success managers in the transition phase. We were in a transitional space where the team was becoming more proactive and less reactive. Instead of just responding to customer problems, we were creating customer initiatives. I headed up three of these initiatives and project-managed them. It was like being the middleman between the top manager and the customer success managers who were getting the work done.
It was very interesting and I got a lot of autonomy to share my own projects and help the customer success managers. The overall aim was spearheading projects with the aim of raising more funds and changing the duties of the customer success manager.
What has been the highlight of working for the company?
The people! And also seeing the impact of the work. The people were amazing - the customer success managers, the leadership team, my boss, everyone was very supportive.
Towards the end I started to see how impactful the work was in terms of revenue as well. It was great to see us achieving our goals.
What is the most important thing you’ve learned since starting?
It’s possible to work in a healthy environment, to do the work you love and to be supported by your colleagues. The most important thing I learned from the role is that change is constant. It was a transitional stage and part of the work I did was to help the transition within the customer success manager roles. What I learned was that change is important and I learned how to go about change. I learned that some people are resistant to change and others are less so, and I found out how to navigate the change and carry people along with it.
When I went into the internship with three goals: gain experience, improve my network and get clarity on what I want to do once I graduate. I achieved these three goals - the internship has influenced me to look into change management as a career once I finish university. I’ve been completing change management courses since completing it.
We always spoke about ‘the magic of Equinix’ - the ‘magic’ is the values that Equinix has which guides what it does, but also the people. I was struck by how nice and supportive everyone was throughout my internship. It really was part of the fabric of Equinix to be supportive which made it an awesome place to work.
Let us know where you've secured your work experience, internship or graduate role. We want to celebrate your success with a gift from us and exclusive invitations to evening networking drinks throughout the year.