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My Journey as a Quality Engineer Intern at Appian

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Hi there!

Hello everyone! My name is Megan Everett, and I’m one of the 43 interns having an unforgettable experience this summer at Appian. I’m currently a rising 4th-year at the University of Virginia majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a minor in Computer Science. Outside the classroom, I’m involved in a Christian college ministry and a dance club, where I was a student choreographer before the pandemic. I have an outstanding love for nature including the mountains, hiking, camping, biking, kayaking - anything you name it. I hope to visit all of the national parks someday. By now you’re probably wondering how any of this led me to Appian, but don’t worry, that’s up next.


Hiking The Narrows in Zion National Park

Soul searching.

When I started my internship search, I didn’t really know what I was looking for. I had interests in so many places - biology because of biomedical engineering, software because of my minor, and quality/continuous improvement from a past internship. I applied to internships all across the board, and when Appian reached out with that initial phone call and first interview, I could tell there was something different about this company, in a good way of course. Specifically, I was really impressed with the way each individual I talked to was interested in who I was as a person and not just what experience I did or didn’t have. Even as a potential intern, a founder of the company took the time to interview me and ask what I was passionate about. Soon enough, I learned that a huge part of Appian is its culture and community, known as AppianLife. Between the internship being something I was genuinely interested in, and the company culture itself, I knew I had found how I wanted to spend my summer.

Experience of a lifetime.

Here at Appian, I am a Quality Engineer Intern on the Records Updates and Monitoring Team. This team is making databases accessible to the user, allowing them to create custom fields  and relationships within data. This team is also working to allow data to be aggregated (for example, counting the number of orders one customer has placed), filtered, and sorted. This creates many different options for the user, and plenty of ways to test these scenarios as a Quality Engineer.

I’m learning a plethora of acronyms daily, attending various team meetings, and learning what it means to be a Quality Engineer. Every single person at Appian has been so kind and helpful, and I’ve felt welcomed from day one. Within one week of joining my team, I tested my first ticket on my own! And I know that it is only the first of many learning experiences I’ll have during the course of my internship. As a Quality Engineer Intern, I’m hoping to learn how to ensure quality and integrity in software features that are constantly evolving. I love data and numbers, so being able to improve databases or quantify performance improvements is something I’m really looking forward to. I also can’t wait to see all of the skills, knowledge, and different perspectives I’ll pick up along the way from the people I’m working with. 

More generally, I’m ready to explore what I’m interested in during the designated “Learning Time,” where employees have the opportunity to spend time exploring topics they want to know more about. I feel supported and encouraged to voice my questions, opinions, ideas, and concerns each day (even as an intern). It’s so motivating and exciting to be working for an awesome company that truly cares about its people and has amazing values that really matter and are upheld. Before I even started working with my team, I knew Appian was a company that I would love to work for.

Even though the internship is virtual and all 40 or so interns are connecting from all over the country, we have plenty of fun opportunities to connect with each other. There are weekly intern lunch groups, where we just get to chat with each other, and weekly brain breaks, where we play games or participate in other fun activities to break up the workday. One of my favorite things so far has been our Intern Pods, which are groups of interns across multiple departments who work together to complete challenges in the “Intern Olympics” in the hopes of earning the most points. Last but not least, we have intern events almost every week. Some of the highlights so far have been a virtual escape room, scavenger hunt, and a summer birthday celebration! I’ve only been here a handful of weeks, but I’m loving everything so far. 

I know that this summer will be one full of growth, both personally and professionally, and I couldn’t have asked for a better place or a better group of people to help me along the way. Even though I’m just starting out as an intern, I have an exciting journey ahead of me and I can’t wait to see what all I accomplish and learn here at Appian!

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