Andrew Santos joined Intel for an 8-month internship in Hudson, MA back in May of 2017—now, he’s a fulltime employee, taking advantage of everything Intel has to offer, including Employee Resource Groups (ERGs) like our NextGen Professionals Network. We talked to Andrew about how he went from intern to employee, his experience with ERGs, and how he found a supportive community at Intel.
“From the get-go, I felt like a part of the Intel family right away. My internship exposed me to what life at Intel is like. I felt like I was treated like any other full-time employee in terms of how I was trained and how I was treated on the team.”
Andrew jumped right into the environment and started solving complex problems, and his longer internship gave him the extra time to make an impact on his project.
In terms of the workload and the kinds of work he was assigned, “the transition from intern to full-time was pretty seamless. I faced the learning curve as an intern and had the time to develop skills and expertise in my team working on meaningful projects, so I was able to pick up right where I left off when I joined full-time.”
For Andrew, his work as a verification engineer empowers him to work across all elements of the design team and make an impact on a project—getting to see the product motivates him throughout the process.
“What I really love about the role is that I feel like we're right in the middle of the development process from the time it is conceptualized by the architects, actually designed by designers, through to the design getting manufactured and tested. I love that I've been involved in every step of the process from when our chip is designed through to when it's actually being made and tested. And that's working across a lot of teams across Intel.”
Solving complex problems collaboratively across teams is only part of the reason Andrew feels like he has found a family at Intel. In fact, his Intel network really grew when he began exploring ERGs.
“What really surprised me were the amount of different interests that everyone has, and the ability for people to be able to share those interests with everyone within the work environment. Our employee resource groups provide such a great platform for people to share their passions.”
Intel’s NextGen Professionals Network offered Andrew a chance to connect his love of sports, networking and leadership development. The group’s goal is to make Intel an inclusive, great place to work for early-career professionals through events and activities focused on pillars including career development, community service, social events, and health and wellness.
“When I started as an intern, I was really excited to learn that there was this community catered toward people that are earlier on in their career. One of my favorite events is our sports programs. We organized different pickup games every week for different sports, which allowed me to network and become friends with people in different business groups. This also showed me what it’s like to work in other groups across Intel and connect and network on a social level, and a career development level as well.”
After his internship, Andrew joined the NextGen Hudson Executive Board Committee – an opportunity that he knew would increase his involvement in new activities within Intel. He first started by taking notes at meetings; today, he serves as the Vice President of the NextGen Hudson Executive Board Committee.
“Intel is a big company, and it is easy to stay within your bubble or circle. Our ERGs provide a way to connect and become a community.”
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