I interned the summer of 2016 for TESSO Technologies; a large wireless distribution company located about 20 minutes outside Baltimore in Timonium, Maryland. TESSCO has another location in Nevada and is traded on the NASDAQ. Their partners include Lifeproof, Otterbox, Speck, Samsung, LG, you name it. After coming across a listing online for a design intern, I applied on a whim. The position was paid, I had not secured a credited position yet, and having just signed a lease to the most beautiful walk-up, I was in no position to turn down being paid. I received a phone call immediately the following morning, and after an interview and a portfolio review I was hired.
I worked under Paul Garland in the marketing department. Paul’s official position was campaign production and execution (a generic tag applied to all the creatives in the marketing department), but he was essentially the creative head for the department, as all the other creatives answered to him.
I worked on many projects, and I did a lot of work branding TESSCO’s annual trade show. They had originally outsourced the work to a firm, but they were unhappy with the final product so all the department creatives took a pass at it, and my pitch was chosen. However, what I’m most proud of are the email templates and style guides I created. It was a project outside my comfort zone, and by far the best portfolio piece I gained through my internship. It was exciting to see my design come to life as it was coded by another designer, and to think it is being seen by TESSCO’s 20,000-some quarterly customers. Not to mention it is a lasting mark I made on the company.
The biggest take-away is to just take a chance. I was reluctant to accept the position, but I gained a lot and am grateful for the opportunity. I gained several very nice portfolio pieces, gained real experience to add to my resume, and built skills I did not previously have. Plus I got paid, so you know, that was cool, too.
In the future I think I would prefer to work in a design firm. TESSCO was a crash course in my Blair-Waldorf-white-collar-dreams and I realized it wasn’t for me, but that’s also part of the gain of an internship — testing out a career path. Not to mention now that I’ve gone through this process, once I’m better prepared to do it again I’ll know what I want, what to look for, and how to find it.
