I am currently a college student, with a goal of entering technology sales as an SDR. As I looked for a summer job, I decided to accept an account management internship at Clari.
I know what you’re thinking: Why do this role, only to switch to being an SDR?
The answer: I wanted to understand what happens after a deal closes.
Understanding how companies keep their customers and expand their customer base over time intrigues me. I have always wondered why certain companies or people buy certain products and remain customers for years. An account management internship at Clari offered an opportunity to understand this firsthand.
For me, the AM internship gave me insight into the customer support side of the business, and the possibilities that exist beyond the SDR role. If I understand the hand-off process, and what it takes to keep a client, that’s only going to help me better understand what clients need upfront.
Here are some key lessons I’ll take back to school:
Know what you want from your internship
Even if you’re set on what you want to do after college, it’s important to think about your career development:
- Where do you want to be after your first role?
- Would you prefer a managerial role or a leadership role in the future?
- Will the internship allow you to learn skills that you could transfer into any profession you wanted?
Understanding early in your career the paths that unfurl after your first post-college job allows you to gain direction in terms of your career path and growth. I knew I wanted to gain insight to what an SDR position could lead to, and I wanted the opportunity to do cross-functional work and develop cross-functional skills.
At the beginning of the internship, my Clari mentors asked me: What are you trying to accomplish this summer, and how can we help you?
Since I knew what I wanted to get out of the internship, I could answer their question and ensure I performed valuable work for the company, and for my own career.
For example, I spent a significant amount of time this summer revamping the company’s sales playbook, developing a small team to create content for new sales hires to learn about selling at Clari, so they could ramp efficiently. This meant I managed a project, working with Clari staff from several departments, and also learned, in a very detailed way, sales staff training in the real world.
Key skills Clari gave me
This summer, I not only gained a perspective on what I can do to help a customer buy a solution that works for them, but also how they can become a champion of a product in the future.
Here are some key skills I’ve gained that can transfer to an SDR role:
- Ownership: A key objective that I made at the beginning of the summer was to learn how to take ownership of my projects. Working on multiple projects, I learned how to set expectations, give and receive feedback, and track my progress. In the SDR role, setting expectations, creating a feedback loop between yourself and the manager, and keeping tabs on your development is essential.
- Time management: As a college student, I’m familiar with time management, but only in the sense of homework and turning in assignments. Doing a summer internship made me realize how imperative it is to manage your time properly.
- Communication: Developing an open line of communication with everyone you work with is a key skill. This is especially important if you’re working on multiple projects in a short period of time. The difference between communicating upfront and letting things fall through the cracks can cost you (pun was intended).
This fall, I’ll return to Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore as a senior. My professional future isn’t far off. Now, thanks to my Clari internship, I know what that path looks like.
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