First Impressions as a Five9 Marketing Intern

First impressions are everything. And as someone who applied to almost 50 internships for this summer, believe me when I say that Five9 gave the best first impression. Anyone who has gone through the process of internship search, with frankly zero experience, knows the feelings of discouragement and disappointment from the inevitable rejections. Every job post required 1-2 years of experience in the field, an advanced understanding of x/y/z software, and a laundry list of things I didn’t have. But when browsing job postings on LinkedIn, I came across one in search of an Integrated Marketing Intern at Five9, a company I had never heard of. Yet, what caught my eye was the clear statement of Five9’s core values and testimonies that attested to them. Going into my internship search, I had no clue what specific field of marketing I wanted to pursue; but I knew that those values represented exactly what I wanted—to learn, contribute, and grow.  

So, I did my research, revised my resume, wrote a cover letter, and applied at 1:14 PM on a normal Friday afternoon. With not even enough time to browse more internships, at 1:30PM I received an email from a recruiter at Five9 asking my availability for an interview. I was in shock. On Monday I had my first round of interviews. The next thing I know, Wednesday was round two, then Friday was my third and final round. I got the call offering me the position the following Monday. Never have I encountered a company so invested with prioritizing a prospective intern. Everyone that interviewed me was completely transparent, personal, and willing to give me tips to succeed. Usually in interviews, I feel like a contestant competing against others and being assessed by my interviewers, but in all my Five9 interviews, I truly felt as if I were already a part of the company. Now actually being an intern here, that feeling has only multiplied. 

From my very first day working, I hit the ground running—I was added to countless meetings, given the responsibility to handle legal contracts for CX Summit, and helped plan on-site initiatives. While being the only intern on my team allowed me a great deal of responsibility and hands-on work, it also came with a lot of pressure. Working with real material, huge amounts of money, and deadlines was somewhat new to me, but also a challenge I was willing to take on. While I mainly worked on the marketing programs team, I was exposed to many different marketing fields, including partner marketing, creative marketing, international marketing, and more—all through which I learned so much.  

Finally came the time of CX Summit, which I had the amazing opportunity to attend at the Aria in Las Vegas. Meeting my team in-person and seeing everything we had been working on right in front of my eyes was surreal. From reading names of rooms on a map to standing in them, from designing a workbook to holding it in my own hands, and so much more, it was fascinating. My responsibilities throughout the three-day event were being on-call for any miscellaneous task that ensured the seamless flow of things. Sure, there were moments of stress where the tasks that I handled had hiccups, but I never felt like I didn’t have the support or resources of my team to help. 

Overall, working in the marketing programs field has been so interactive and exciting, but I had no idea how much work went into it. Every single detail of the convention center was in the hands of someone on the team, and it truly showed. At times, I was in meetings solely to discuss the color of table covers or chair styles...and I loved it. Each day of my internship was different; and I got to witness and contribute to a multitude of aspects that played a part in the event’s success. My favorite part was how tangible the work I did was—everything we worked on for months was finally brought to life at CX Summit. Everything went so well on-site, and the post-event data displayed metrics and feedback that proved that. In the end, that very first impression that I had of Five9 carried on throughout my internship and I could not be more thankful for the experience I had. 

For more information about the Five9 internship program, visit our careers page or contact erin.wilker@five9.com for application information.