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As a freshman in college, I was tasked with the daunting challenge of attempting to find a summer internship. I applied to several companies, including UiPath, hoping one of them would give me the opportunity to gain some new experiences over my break from university. I applied to UiPath upon hearing about it from my cousin, who works in the sales department, on my trip home in the winter between semesters. He mentioned that it was a great company for people who were studying computer science, which I happened to be doing. I wasn’t quite sure exactly what UiPath did or was when I applied, but I figured the more applications I could send out, the better. When UiPath so kindly offered me a summer position, I jumped to say “yes,” and then was tasked with figuring out what it was I would be doing during my time there.
I was told my role would be an “RPA Developer Intern.” But what was Robotic Process Automation (RPA)? More specifically, what was an RPA developer? I searched around on the UiPath website and found so much content explaining to me the incredible world of RPA.
Why would anyone continue doing mundane tasks when you can simply create a software robot to do it for you? I found it fascinating and exciting.
I was ecstatic to be joining the company for the summer.
However, I was also concerned. Why would they hire me? I had no prior RPA experience and it seemed so complex. These software robots were saving people hours, if not days, of time. I didn’t think I would be able to contribute anything of meaning in such a short period of time.
That is where I was wrong.
Through the online UiPath Academy and the opportunity to shadow a live Client Advanced Training during the internship, I was able to quickly pick up UiPath Studio and Orchestrator. The training was very comprehensive and explained many of the activities you could use to automate processes that I never thought I would be able to.
I do feel that my computer science background helped with my understanding, but I truly think the entire UiPath ecosystem is something anyone can pick up with enough time, enthusiasm, and dedication. The drag and drop format of Studio means no writing tedious lines of code, and you can search for activities so you don’t have to remember prompts or command syntax. The validation error warnings and error messages are also clear, making it easy to figure out where your code is going wrong. Similarly, there is a useful debug mode that breaks your code down step-by-step and allows you to check variable values as you move through your workflow.
Throughout my internship, I made several Robots for internal processes and the marketing team, as well as some Robots that I made in my free time just because I enjoyed creating them so much.
Chet Chambers, chief evangelist in the Americas for UiPath, even wrote a blog post about a Salesforce Robot I built. Check it out!
The entire idea of RPA was something I found so invigorating I often had a hard time putting it aside at home and sometimes worked on my Robots way into the night. It was like solving a puzzle that would make someone’s life easier, how cool is that?
Experiencing UiPath company culture
So, it turned out I loved what I was doing at my job, but would it be worth the hour and change commute every morning, waking up at 5:00 a.m.? The answer was "yes" because every weekday morning I would arise absolutely thrilled to go to work.
I had the pleasure of working at the 90 Park Avenue New York City office, one of the major UiPath hubs. Not only did this mean I got to witness several employee onboardings, meeting new hires who were just as excited about UiPath as I was, but I also got to meet everyone who worked at the office. There was not a single person I did not view as an inspiration to me. From the fellow interns, my managers, and just employees who came and went, everyone was so incredibly kind, supportive, and helpful throughout my UiPath journey. I never felt scared to reach out with a question and I always felt welcome despite my intern status and relatively young age.
Everyone in the office was passionate about what UiPath does and what the company is doing. Even though there are offices around the globe, I felt just as connected to the Center of Excellence (CoE) I was building a Robot for in Romania as I did to the customer success manager sitting right next to me. I genuinely looked forward to going into the office every day. Of course, there was the bonus of free lunch and a great collection of snacks, but it was definitely the people who made it worth it for me.
Somewhere in the middle of my internship I texted in my family group chat “Just wanted to say that today I really realized that I have peaked too early, I’m not sure I will ever like a job as much as I like UiPath.”
This statement still holds true. I am dreading the last day of my internship and saying goodbye to all of the incredible people I have met and doing something that I love to do every day.
I cannot emphasize enough how welcoming and engaging the company culture is, and how much I have enjoyed working here. I am sad that I only got to spend 11 weeks at UiPath, but I feel like I have accomplished and learned so much. This has truly been the best summer of my life.
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Rebecca Stevens is an RPA Developer Intern at UiPath.