Sharanya Karkera, a second-year Arts and Business student is currently working remotely from India for her first 8-month co-op term.
Sharanya works for a company based in California called Calix. Calix involves cloud computing, software platforms, systems and services to communications service providers.
Her role was the Customer Success Intern where she worked in between the bridge of sales and marketing. Sharanya is now currently working as the Content Copywriter Editor Intern!
Sharanya is also working simultaneously at Imprint as the Head Designer where she develops several graphic designing skills. She is able to apply these skills to Calix as she is often assigned graphic design projects.
More than the work I am doing, it’s really about gaining exposure to new people.
What has been the most challenging thing about co-op?
Working remotely is a challenge for many co-op students. However, working from a different country with a completely different time zone makes it even more difficult.
Sharanya says, “There was a delay with my laptop coming to India because of customs and the company policy insisted that I used a company laptop. For this reason, I started a month late and I think this was my biggest stress.”
What sort of skills have you developed from your co-op term?
"As of now I would say a lot of people skills. Learning to reach out to people, learning to talk to them and build that connection. I'm still learning to maintain those connections more than having just a brief call with them. I'm also learning a couple of new softwares like Salesforce and Camtasia."
How did you communicate with your team each day?
"I used Microsoft Teams to chat with my co-workers, Zoom for meetings and Outlook for emailing my team!"
What tips would you offer for going into a co-op interview?
Sharanya says, “I really wanted a co-op position (product intern role), but I didn't get it. I reached out and asked them why I didn't get it. It was because I did my research on the company, but I didn't do as much research on the role, so I didn't have any relevant questions."
"I also wasn’t too sure of the terminology when the interviewer asked me. My advice would be staying up to date on what the role is about and learning more about the role more than the company.”
Sharanya worked remotely from India for a California-based company. That's a 12-hour time difference!