Meet Noe, Ariana, and Juan (pictured above diving into books by Humu authors)!
At Humu, our mission is to make work better for everyone, everywhere. Which is why, earlier this summer, we welcomed high school students Noe, Juan, and Ariana for a three-week internship at our Mountain View HQ.
The goal of the internship was to give high schoolers from communities that are typically under-represented in tech the chance to see what it’s like to work at a startup—and to help them develop skills that they can apply in their future careers. Students from underserved communities often have a harder time finding professional internships, which limits their ability to explore different fields.
Noe, Juan, and Ariana are all part of the Peninsula Bridge program, a San Mateo-based organization that provides low-income students continuous support throughout their academic careers.
I'm a Peninsula Bridge alum myself, so the internship was especially meaningful to me. I participated throughout middle school, and then in a pilot mentorship program for first generation college students. I also met my mentor Gerri through the program, who continues to be an inspiration and an incredible source of guidance and support to this day.
When I learned about the Peninsula Bridge intern program at Humu, I jumped at the chance to make it an experience that would enrich their academic and professional careers—and to help Noe, Ariana, and Juan form equally meaningful connections. I stepped outside of my usual role in office logistics and executive support to help put together projects that offered our interns the chance to dive into different fields (more on that below).
We also decided to offer a series of practical workshops led by different members of the Humu team on everything from career basics to engineering tutorials. Machine Learning Lead Aleatha walked through resume and interview tips, People Scientist Stefanie gave an intro to statistics session, and Engineer Daniel led an interactive class on how to build a mobile app!
We also visited the offices of other tech companies in San Francisco, including Airbnb and Pinterest to give them a peek into different work cultures and environments.
Towards the end of the program, I had a chance to ask Noe, Ariana, and Juan a couple questions about the program. Here are a few things they told me about their experience at Humu and their goals for the future.
Humu: What was your favorite project you worked on at Humu?
Noe: The People Science project gave us the opportunity to learn what it’s really like to work at Humu. We interviewed different types of employees, including factory workers, delivery workers, and a few people from the healthcare industry.
At the end of the Internship, we shared our results with the Humu team. We were excited to give the People Scientists more background information about different types of work so that in the future, they can better help all kinds of employees.
Humu: What two things do you think make work a great place to be?
Ariana: Based on my internship, I think feeling like a part of a team is definitely important. At Humu I got to see what it looks like when an office has a strong community culture. For example, we joined in activities like daily stand-up (a time when the whole company comes together), Wellness Wednesday yoga classes, and handing out awards to team members who did an especially great job. And secondly, having a workplace that not only gives you the support you need to finish meaningful tasks but challenges you to learn new things along the way.
Humu: What kind of job do you hope to have one day?
Juan: I hope to be on the tech side of a big social media company writing code and designing products, but I could also see myself working in sales. The best thing about interning at Humu was learning about what everyone does here. The Sales 101 session with Sara, a member of the sales team, made me more interested in that field. I feel like I’m capable of negotiating and coming to a clear agreement with others.
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