Earlier this week LifeSize attended the Career EXPO at the University of Texas. We were one of over one hundred other companies actively competing for great students looking for internships and full-time opportunities. Most companies were familiar household names including Microsoft, Oracle, and Rosetta Stone. In fact, our booth just happened to be set up across the aisle from them. Great booth positioning, but strong competition when looking for good talent.

LifeSize is well-known throughout our industry, but that’s not normally the case when my peers ask the all too common question of “who do you work for”. Being a relatively small company, we have to work a bit harder than others to get our name out there and recognized, particularly so when at a college career fair surrounded by public corporations. But in typical LifeSize fashion, we made our appearance known last Monday with a small crew of five recruiters and engineers throughout the day. It takes personality and charisma to prove that we’re an innovative company that offers positions just as attractive as the larger companies.

As a student at UT, I know exactly how it feels to be on the other side of the process. Every company tries to show candidates how and why they are the “best” place to work, but it’s still really intimidating to leave a resume with an employer. It was awesome to finally be the recruiter in this situation. I felt as if I were representing all interns that work hard to prove that they’re not just temporary aids. Placed in this professional setting, it made an obvious impression on students. I noticed the looks on their faces and how their nerves relaxed when they found out I was an intern. They were able to feel more comfortable and less pressured to make the “perfect” impression knowing that we could connect on a familiar level. We spoke conversationally and they tuned in more attentively when I described the hard-working, yet laid-back environment LifeSize embodies. Representing LifeSize as an intern at the Career EXPO showed just how this company values all of their employees.

Any company can say that their interns make a legitimate contribution to the work done, but we went a step further and actually proved it. In my opinion, the internship program at LifeSize doesn’t really feel like an internship at all. It’s more like working for yourself, or at least as if you were working a full-time position. I work hard on the assignments I’m given, but I’m not micro-managed. I’m able to take on a great deal of responsibility, but if I were to run across any questions or problems, my supervisors are completely supportive and happy to help.

It was incredible to be able to represent LifeSize and experience first hand what it’s like to be on both sides of the recruiting process. It made me feel valuable and important to the company, even if I am only an intern, which makes it easy for me to spread the word about LifeSize and why people should want to work here.



This week we are pleased to welcome a guest writer to our blog. Mandy is our HR Intern at LifeSize and is pursuing her Bachelors in Business Administration thru the McCombs School of Business at the University of Texas. Her contributions to our HR team are invaluable, especially as we focus on growing our internship program and college recruiting efforts.