8 Reasons We're Glad We Chose Credera for a Technology Consulting Internship

Lawson Smith and Colin Siles

8 Reasons We're Glad We Chose Credera for a Technology Consulting Internship

Choosing a summer internship can be a difficult decision, especially in the technology industry where there seem to be limitless opportunities. You may find yourself deciding what size firm to join, whether to pursue industry or consulting, and even what technical role is the best fit for you.

We found ourselves asking these same questions last year, and through evaluating our options and learning more, eventually found our summer home at Credera.

Through this blog post, we want to share some of our summer highlights at Credera in hopes that it may make the decision a little easier for those considering an internship at Credera in the future.

Why We're Glad We Chose Technology Consulting at Credera

1. Learning and Using Many Cutting-Edge Technologies

As a consultant, you move between many different projects, which gives you the opportunity to learn about and use many different technologies. On one project, you may be designing a front end with React, and the next, building a back-end API with Spring Boot.

This means you likely won’t be stuck using one technology for an extended period. During our summer with Credera, we got a taste of this variety—we worked with DevOps, front-end development, visualization, and data pipelining. In doing so, we worked with tools including Docker, Kubernetes, React, Power BI, Snowflake, and AWS Glue. Although we had no experience with these tools at the beginning of the summer, we learned through practice and with the support of our Credera team and are now confident users.

2. High Level of Collaboration With Clients

When building solutions for clients, there is a high level of engagement and collaboration with others. Teamwork is not a guarantee with most technical roles, so we were surprised and thankful to work closely with others to solve our client’s problems.

For example, we participated in regular calls with clients to collaboratively develop a solution that met their vision. Visibility and interpersonal collaboration are traits we prioritized in our job search, and these are not only skills that consultants use on occasion but are essential to their work. And at Credera, they’re also skills that interns get to learn and develop through real-world experience.

Additionally, in a typical consulting environment, client interactions and presentations are done by senior colleagues at the firm, but Credera does an excellent job of empowering employees with less seniority, including interns, to have these interactions. Needless to say, we were pleasantly surprised with the high level of client exposure we received through presentations, interviews, and regular meetings.

3. Solving Different Problems From a Variety of Industries

If you’re like us and you get bored tackling the same type of problems repeatedly, consulting is the perfect profession for you. Consulting allows you to work in a multitude of different industries, while solving a wide range of problems.

We worked in two different industries during our internship: the nonprofit sector and the healthcare industry. Although we didn’t have experience with these industries prior to our internship, we enjoyed learning about them and applying our technical skills to solve the industry’s problems. Furthermore, the industries we experienced only scratch the surface of clients Credera engages with. Credera’s clients include popular restaurants, ecommerce sites, and even government agencies.

4. A “People First” Culture

Credera is a company that truly lives by their core value of “people first.” Not only was it something that made Credera stand out during the recruitment and interview process, but this core value became especially apparent during the summer internship program.

Everyone we met, regardless of their practice or level, was welcoming and genuinely curious about our interests and ambitions. The “people first” culture is reflected through everything Credera does, including staffing decisions. When placing consultants on a project, they take into consideration an individual’s interests and professional goals, not just whether their skillset lines up with the project requirements.

5. Full-Time Employee Treatment

A distinguishing factor of Credera is that they treat their interns like full-time employees. Not only did Credera give us responsibilities on real client projects, but they also gave us the same opportunities that full-time employees have. We were given ownership of challenging tasks, assigned mentors, invited to all-company events, and staffed on real client engagements. At no point did we feel Credera was cutting corners on the employee experience because we were “just interns."

6. Outstanding Mentorship Opportunities

Credera assigns each intern a career coach and onboarding peer who act as mentors throughout the summer program. We met with our mentors on a regular basis to discuss performance evaluations, project alignment with our long-term career goals, and any concerns we may have had, Credera-related or not.

Lawson’s mentors specifically helped him navigate his transitions between projects, and Colin’s mentors helped ensure he could still achieve his goals on a project that differed from his assumptions of what a client project would be. We were fortunate to have outstanding mentors, and their guidance was a valuable part of the Credera summer experience.

7. Growth

Credera is experiencing rapid growth and has onboarded hundreds of new employees within the last year. This massive growth opens opportunities for employees to experience upward mobility within the firm at an unprecedented pace.

Employees are given opportunities to take leadership on projects and accept more responsibility within their client team. Even as interns, we grew professionally by leading presentations, learning innovative technologies, and interacting with clients. Interning at a firm with such a chance for professional growth is exhilarating.

8. Positive Work Culture

Credera creates a positive and inclusive work environment by bringing people together through events and engagement and providing safe spaces to build real relationships. From community service day to ice cream socials, cooking classes, and everything in between—we got to experience the Credera culture in its truest form.

Colin even joined the Denver office’s after-work volleyball team! Additionally, we got to experience “Summer Fridays,” where Credera team members can wrap up their project work a few hours early and kick off their weekend at lunch time on Fridays!

We could not have imagined a better internship experience than what we had with Credera. From the campus recruiters to our full-time project peers and everyone in between, Credera staff invested in us and made us feel like our contributions matter to the firm.

We understand it can be difficult to navigate internship decisions, but we hope hearing about our experience helps you envision what a summer at Credera could look like if you chose this path as well. We hope you do!

Find Your Fit

Interested in joining Credera as an intern or full time upon graduation? Check out our website to apply! Job applications open on August 25, 2021 and close on September 30, 2021.