Tuhina Tripathi

Absolutely pumped to announce that I’ve been offered an internship at Amazon! No, not the rainforest. Yes, the one with the smile arrow. No, I don't know why your package is delayed. Yes, I've already been asked if I can get you an Amazon Prime for free (the answer is no) :P When I applied, I definitely didn't expect to end up here. The journey here was... an experience. One minute I was stress-refreshing my email every 30 seconds, and now I'm about to work at a company where I can finally use "Alexa" in a sentence without summoning my smart speaker. Special thanks to: - My parents for believing in me even when I couldn't explain what I was studying without putting them to sleep - Stack Overflow (real MVP) - My laptop for not crashing during the final round - Whoever invented "Ctrl+Z" because I use it more than I'd like to admit - My LinkedIn connections who hyped up my profile (you guys are the real ones) P.S. - Already practicing my "disagree and commit" by disagreeing with my alarm clock but committing to waking up anyway. P.P.S. - If you're also in the intern cohort, let's connect!

Well, that's a wrap on my summer internship with the Barclays UK Salesforce team. 2 months that honestly felt like a blur, the good kind of blur where you're too busy having fun to notice time passing. When I walked in as the only intern on the Salesforce team, I was terrified. Thought I'd spend the summer quietly fixing bugs in a corner, maybe breaking a few things, trying not to embarrass myself too much. That plan lasted exactly... one day. The people made all the difference: Vik, thanks for the welcome that actually felt like a welcome, not just onboarding. And for throwing real challenges at me instead of intern busywork. Made me feel like I belonged from day one. Ajay, every time I'd hit a wall (which happened... a lot), one call and you'd walk me through it. Never made me feel stupid for asking. That kind of support is rare. Shrikant, the walking encyclopaedia. We'd start with a simple Salesforce question and somehow end up in these amazing deep dives about everything related to the topic. Sakshi, more friend than mentor honestly. When I'd get frustrated, instead of immediately solving my problem, you'd go "I remember getting stuck on this exact thing" and then we'd figure it out together. Made everything feel so much less intimidating. - The Bollywood office party (yes, that's a real thing and yes, my friends were incredibly jealous) - First meeting with Salil and Kishore alongside all the other interns, hearing their journeys and insights immediately set the tone. Realised this wasn't going to be your typical "fetch coffee and organise files" internship. These people actually cared about our growth. - Barclays in India Hackathon where WE had to teach Gen-AI to senior leaders - Amit's talk that completely shifted how I think about career growth and the banking tech space This wasn't just about learning Salesforce (though I did learn a ton). It was about finding a team that made work feel less like work. Made me realise how important culture and people are when you're building something together. Already missing the daily chaos, the sessions, and honestly just hanging out with you all. If you ever get the chance to work with this team, take it. They don't just teach you technical skills, they show you what good teamwork actually looks like. Thanks for making this summer unforgettable, Barclays Salesforce team. You set the bar pretty high for what a workplace can feel like. 🥂 (P.S. - Anurag, if you're reading this, my LWC still isn't working. I'm counting on you to fix it if I come back next year 😅)

I found a "Hidden Entry" into Amazon (without applying on the portal). Here's the backdoor entry no one talks about. 🤫 Let me tell you about the dumbest-smart thing I ever did. I applied to Amazon the "normal" way. You know, polish resume, spam Apply button 47 times, refresh email like a maniac, question all life choices. Result? Crickets. Then I stumbled into something called "Hack-On with Amazon." I got eliminated. Didn't win. Didn't even make it past Round 1. But here's where it gets wild. Few weeks later, I got an email. Not the usual "thank you for your interest" rejection. An actual interest form. From Amazon's recruiting team. With a link to an OA that wasn't on the main portal. I thought it was a scam at first (checked the sender like 6 times). Turns out, just by showing up to their event, I got added to a special candidate pool. The OA led to interviews. Interviews led to... well, you can see where this is going. The lesson nobody tells you: Stop grinding LeetCode for 8 hours and then applying to 100 companies. Start showing up to company events. Even if you bomb. Even if you're convinced you don't stand a chance. Amazon WoW. Hack-On. Google competitions. Microsoft challenges. Whatever. 80% of the game is just being in the room. Fun fact: I also used this exact strategy for Barclash at Barclays. Got the internship. Didn't win that hackathon either. Sensing a pattern here? 😅 P.S. — If you're DMing me asking "which events should I join," just Google "[Company Name] + hackathon" and register for literally anything. You're welcome. P.P.S. — No, I still can't get you free Prime. Stop asking. :P