Getting Weird in I.T. Like E.T. – DriveTime 2013 Internship Series

Written by: Scott Rozell, IT intern 

As a Computer Science major at ASU, there are many different career paths that can be taken and deciding on which one is right can be a challenge. Or so I thought.

I applied for the DriveTime internship because database development classes had been the most intriguing for me. I wasn’t even sure what DriveTime was when I applied, other than a car company. I figured it would be a good start in finding where I wanted to take my career and get a taste of real world database development. After the first interview in February, I found that I loved the passion that the employees had for learning and improving as well as the overall environment of the office.

I was instantly set on choosing this internship and started looking forward to the summer. I was even able to start a couple weeks early making it a 12-week summer internship. Since I was early, I got to start with database work right off the bat. I was overloaded with information, learning DriveTime standards and programs such as SSMS and Informatica. It took about two weeks to get a handle on how the databases are structured, but my mentor was very helpful in walking me through each process and answering any questions I had.

The third week was Intern Orientation where we were able to learn about the company in an extravagant fashion. Having a lot of retail experience in the past, it was great to see how the company worked in the front end and how I was able to contribute in the back end with database development for the retail team.  It was also fun meeting other interns and learning about what they were doing and the different parts of the company they worked for.

So far my expectations for this internship have been completely blown away. I learned more in the first month than I thought I would all summer. I have been given a vast amount of tools for learning and expanding my knowledge. A SQL 2012 Study Session has been set up and run by employees that I have been able to take advantage of. We meet twice a week and learn and prepare for the certification test that would not only help me here at DriveTime, but anywhere my career takes me.

The two things that make this internship unique are the focus on personal improvement and the company culture. The way the culture is set up, it is even difficult to tell these two things apart. The culture has relationships at its core, yet manages to build personal growth around interaction motivated towards improvement. You cannot get through a day at this office without learning something new and being challenged in some way.

This internship is nothing like any job I have had and it is an experience I will be able to use for the rest of my life. Being able to learn about different areas of the company has helped me decide where I want to take my career and where I want to focus on improving myself. By the end of it, I hope to feel prepared to jump straight into my career when I graduate in December. And from the way it has gone so far, I will be more than ready.

For more information on summer internship opportunities at DriveTime, visit our Careers Center website or continue to check our blog for updates.