Ever wonder what working at Ushur is like? Meet Ushur’s Summer 2019 Interns. This past summer, Ushur’s office nestled in a Santa Clara-based office park was illuminated by the jovial and energetic spirits of 7 fresh-faced interns. Keep reading to learn more about their meaningful work here at Ushur and their impression of the unique Ushur culture.
(University: UC Berkeley, Major: Economics and Data Science, Role at Ushur: Marketing and Sales Operations Intern).
As a Marketing and Sales Operations Intern, I tackled a wide range of projects from creating sales and marketing collateral containing competitive analysis and consumer statistics to gaining expertise in the CRM platform we employ, to creating quarterly reports for the sales, marketing, and finance teams to authoring blog posts (like this one!). Ushur indeed kept me busy this summer, but I was fortunate to have gained such invaluable experiences which a classroom simply can never provide.
At Ushur, I had the opportunity to pursue projects which the company not only valued but also implemented! There is no sense of ego or hierarchy, and everyone is willing to help you learn and become a better professional. Moreover, the most surreal experience I had was presenting my sales operations project to the VP of Sales and Director of Customer Success. In most other companies, interns would never be offered the opportunity to spearhead such a project AND present their findings. I felt valued at Ushur, and I felt like my work mattered. This feeling is insurmountable, and I’m grateful for all the wonderful people who guided me and helped me develop skills crucial to my future success.
(University: UC Davis, Major: Computer Engineering, Role at Ushur: SWE Intern).
As a Software Engineering intern in our office, Vamsi tackled projects involving email triage, database migration, single sign-in, and customer data anonymizer. Over the course of his 12-week internship, Vamsi emphasizes how unique the experience at Ushur was because he was able to not only have flexibility over the projects he chose, but he also was immersed into the company. Henry, Ushur’s CTO, and Raj, Director of Engineering, worked closely with Vamsi to develop his learning, but they also entrusted Vamsi with high-level projects.
“Seeing your code get put to use in production - the things you work on actually get used instead of just sitting on a pile of unused projects.”
(University: University of Chicago, Major: Computer Science, Role at Ushur: SWE Intern).
Avinash’s time at Ushur consisted of parsing, storing, and executing enterprise data triggers to create a more robust, parallel design, as well as adding capabilities for data triggering throughout the platform. In addition, he redesigned the logging infrastructure to allow for enhanced debugging, auditing, and accessibility. To boost performance and construct more relevant metrics, Avinash worked to improve internal Ushur data collectors.
My experience at Ushur gave me an excellent feel for what it is like to work in a quick-moving startup environment. I learned how to effectively document and implement engineering projects, and follow them through the entire process - from design to deployment. This experience made me far more confident and prepared for other engineering and computer science roles.
The very first day that I arrived at Ushur, I was given training and a debrief on my first project by senior technical leaders. By the end of my first week, I worked with my management to finalize a design, and by my second week, I had completed the implementation. The amount of attention and technical guidance that I was able to receive exceeded my expectations, and allowed me to complete many more projects and learn much more that I would have been able to without it.
(University: University of Washington, Seattle, Major: Earth and Space Sciences: Geology, Role at Ushur: Data Science Intern).
Vibhu, our out-of-state intern focused his time at Ushur in the data analytics and data science department. He constructed a model to detect patient rejection and acceptance as well as utilized data visualization software to create a gauge chart showing the response rate of individuals using Ushur’s software. Vibhu also worked with the marketing team to consolidate and automate their list management process -- epitomizing the collaborative culture of Ushur.
I enjoy working at Ushur since it is a small startup where I know everyone. I am able to meet with multiple different teams and have the freedom to pursue projects that interest me. In addition to this, I especially enjoy the fact that there is no bureaucracy in the company so things could be done as efficiently as possible. I have also worked at Northwest Behavioral Associates as an intern for a completely different role and even though that was also a good company to work for, there was still some degree of bureaucracy when it came time to accomplish certain tasks.
We concluded intern interviews with one piece of advice they would give all the interested and future Ushur interns:
Simrin: Ask questions! At Ushur, you will find yourself in the coolest meetings with all combinations of departments, C-level executives, etc. Take these moments in, and use everything as a learning experience. Strap in, it’s going to be a thrilling ride!
Simrin: Ask questions! At Ushur, you will find yourself in the coolest meetings with all combinations of departments, C-level executives, etc. Take these moments in, and use everything as a learning experience. Strap in, it’s going to be a thrilling ride!
Vamsi: Stackoverflow and Henry are your best friends.
Avinash: Interning at Ushur is an excellent experience and you will be working on projects that make their way into the product, something unique to Ushur's program. My advice for future Ushur interns would be to view the internship as both an excellent learning opportunity for your own professional development, and an opportunity to contribute to a goal bigger than any one person's individual aspirations. You will get to work with very experienced professionals in your field and become an integral part of a close knit team.
Vibhu: My advice would be to start an internship as early as possible, as learning through practical application is something that more people should do in order to advance their skillset and knowledge. Furthermore, I recommend working at Ushur and other small startups so that you can further develop your aptitude in a shorter period of time and nurture your career. The only thing I regret from my internship is not starting it earlier!
