Meet Colby Cook: Q&A With an Illumio Sales Intern

‍In this ongoing series, get to know Illumio’s 2024 summer interns from across the org.  

We’re excited to spotlight the largest intern class in Illumio’s history! This summer, interns from across disciplines joined the Illumio team at our Sunnyvale, California headquarters for three months of career prep.  

This month, we sat down with Colby Cook, a Sales intern at Illumio. Colby shared insights about his role on Illumio’s Sales team, the challenges he has faced with new projects, and the valuable career lessons he has learned during his internship.

Q: How did your perception of working in tech change throughout your internship?

A: Last year, I had an accounting internship at another company. Although it was a hybrid internship, I tried to go into the office as much as possible to get the full experience.  

It ended up that I was the only intern in a very quiet office. People would Slack their in-office coworkers rather than approach their desk. I was often the only one eating lunch in the cafeteria. I didn’t get  

Coming to Illumio flipped my perception upside down! Illumio’s cafeteria at lunchtime is full, and people are sitting across departments. I had tons of opportunities to build relationships and network. I’m walking away from my time at Illumio with friends and mentors. I also know that I want to look for a job after graduation where I can go into the office – remote work isn’t an option for me!

Q: What's a skill or practice you learned this summer that you're excited to use after your Illumio experience?

A: An important skill that I learned this summer is how to build dashboards and reports in Salesforce. Before I started at Illumio, the most I knew about Salesforce was the tower in San Francisco. My manager encouraged me to get comfortable with the tool because he said it’ll have a lasting footprint on my career. I’ve built a lot of Salesforce knowledge this summer and now feel comfortable using the platform.  

I also think Illumio has helped me broaden my scope. I’ve had the chance to connect with so many different people across the organization. I learn how to collaborate with everyone, from interns on other teams all the way to Illumio’s executive leadership team.

Q: Is there a project that particularly challenged you? How did you overcome that challenge?

A: In early July, the sales interns were asked to present to the sales leadership team, including Illumio’s Chief Revenue Officer John Lens. We were fresh into the role and obviously intimidated by some of the titles that were going to be on the call.  

It was fun finding a way to quantify the work efforts we had done to that point. My manager helped me pull data to show how I had contributed to Illumio’s goals just a few weeks into my internship. It was super rewarding to get thoughtful questions and feedback from those on the call.  

Q: What was the best part about doing an in-person internship at the Illumio HQ?

A: The best part was being able to build camaraderie and relationships a lot quicker. There is only so much you can get out of a Zoom discussion from home. When you go to lunch, play pingpong, and take walks with your coworkers, you can quickly build mentors and friends.  

I also didn’t expect to have so many opportunities to meet with Illumio’s leadership team. I was able to attend the executive coffee chats at HQ and even got the chance to talk one-on-one with a few of them. Everyone at Illumio was approachable, quick to offer help, and easy to talk to.

Interested in joining the team as an Illumio intern? Recruitment for next year will begin soon! Check out our careers page to learn more.