Growth, Confidence for SIE Student During Microsoft Internship

Systems engineering junior Elizabeth Barnitt didn't think she'd ever intern at large corporation like Microsoft. However, after submitting a resume last year at a Society of Women Engineers career fair, she traveled to Seattle to participate in a 12-week internship at the software giant's headquarters.

Barnitt said she learned a lot, and that the experience allowed her to grow more independent and confident in her abilities.

"Going into the summer, I knew no one and had to get comfortable with doing a lot of things on my own," Barnitt said. "Since I'd had no prior internship experience, I faced a lot of imposter syndrome and spent the summer understanding and attempting to overcome that."

Working as an explore intern for Microsoft's Unified Customer Management Bing ads team, Barnitt focused on developing an application to automate the customization process for creating PowerPoint presentations.