We take a slightly different approach in this week’s installment of “Inside NetMotion” by talking with Zach Anderson, who recently completed a second internship with NetMotion that culminated in a job offer.
Roughly a year ago, while studying in the University of Washington’s Foster School of Business Sales Program, Zach had just completed his junior year and wanted to get a taste of what it was like to be a salesperson at a software company. That led him to his first internship at NetMotion.
Do your research
Having discovered NetMotion at a university career fair early in his junior year, Zach added the company to a shortlist of other enterprises in the Seattle area that he thought could be a good fit for a summer internship.
According to Zach, NetMotion checked every box for what he was looking for; a company that offered software, was based locally, and had people that he thought he would enjoy working with. He says it wasn’t until he attended a second career fair that he realized how important that last point was. What was the deciding factor? He had an opportunity to talk with more NetMotion staff and discovered that everyone had pictures of their dogs as the wallpaper on their phone and knew that he would fit right in.
After interviewing for an intern position with the sales team, he quickly accepted an offer and waited impatiently for the summer internship to begin.
Hit the ground running
During that first internship, Zach was thrown in deep. He was tasked with reaching out to potential customers – people who had shown interest in NetMotion – through phone calls and email. He admits that this may seem like a straightforward process, but he was surprised at how much detail is actually involved, particularly when you consider how little he initially knew about NetMotion’s solutions, let alone how to convince other people to take interest.
Zach was tenacious. He went through a training program where he learned about NetMotion and how our sales team operates and the kinds of sales tools that were at his disposal. Importantly, he discovered not how to sell, but how to listen to customers so that he could better understand their needs. With all of that under his belt, he felt ready to get to work.
Unlike his previous internships, Zach felt that working at NetMotion brought a nice change of pace. He says that he received a lot of training and was then given the freedom to decide whatever avenue he wanted to pursue to reach his goal.
Learn from mistakes
Zach admits that even though some of his ideas weren’t the best, it was a breath of fresh air to try out new ideas and then reflect on the results with an experienced sales representative.
“Through the mentorship and training I received from everyone helping me along the way, I was able to almost double the original goal that was set. Towards the end of my internship I received an offer to return as a marketing intern and gladly accepted.”
– Zach Anderson
He says that accepting the second internship was an easy decision. During his first internship, he had many opportunities to talk to other students from UW who were in different internships around Seattle. No one seemed as happy as he was to show up to work every day. Many of them complained about their roles, while Zach says that he ‘boasted’ about the various opportunities he was being given to learn and try new things. Even though lead generation isn’t the easiest thing in the world to master, he found that having a supportive and friendly team made all the difference in the working environment.
Welcome to the marketing team
Zach’s second internship was a totally new experience. Moving from the sales team to a role in the marketing team was the first big change, the second being that everyone was now working remote due to the pandemic. But he says that he felt just as welcomed, engaged and supported by the entire team.
“From my perspective it seemed like the remote working aspect barely fazed anyone as everyone was in constant communication.”
– Zach Anderson
In this marketing role Zach was expected to create early-stage opportunities. Similar to his experience in the sales team, he was given the latitude to reach his goals any way he wanted. With a lot of help from the outbound marketing team, he was able to help put together a variety of different campaigns. With events and conferences no longer being an option, the team even hosted a successful virtual event booth, attended by many existing customers and even some employees.
At the end of this second internship, NetMotion was pleased to offer Zach a full-time position with the marketing team. And just like the last offer, he says that he accepted it gladly.
“I had found a team I was excited to be a part of, a role in which I had the freedom to try out new ideas, and a culture that would push me to succeed.”
– Zach Anderson
In addition to his day job in the marketing team, Zach recently put his acting skills to good use in the NetMotion “work from home” video above. As you’ll see, he even got his sister involved.
Zach, welcome to the team. You’re already proving what an asset you are, and we couldn’t be happier to have you join NetMotion permanently.
If you’re interested in a career at NetMotion, check out the latest roles here. You can also sign up for alerts, to be notified whenever a new role becomes available.
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