birdie voices: my summer during the pandemic as an intern at birdie

From Mimi, intern at birdie

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Hola, ‍

My name is Mi Mi Khaing; I’m an MBA student currently studying at the Alliance Manchester Business School. Coming from a healthcare background, I always wanted to work in the area of improving healthcare efficiency by leveraging my business acumen and medical knowledge.

Though the job market is not optimistic this summer, I was lucky enough to be offered an internship position at Birdie. It has been a fun, enriching and fulfilling 8-weeks, despite working virtually from Manchester in my little student accommodation. Here are only a few of the reasons why my summer was so different because of Birdie during the lockdown: 

The culture 

Birdie has a highly contagious culture, and I was infected since day one. I had worked across different industries, and Birdie is the first company that I felt has genuinely lived up to its culture and value. HONESTY, SMART, AMBITIOUS and CARING are what I experienced through interaction with everyone. I feel so proud of being part of Birdie striving to the goal of positively impacting millions of older adults’ lives. Though Birdies are working on a serious mission, we are fun and quirky as well. ☺

The support

The amount of support received during my internship was massive, and I never hesitated to reach out for help when needed. This support allowed me to finish two big projects in 8 weeks. Both of my projects required a considerable amount of research, including interviewing people both externally and internally. Typically, the interview research process will take me 1-2 weeks from drafting questions, reaching out to people, interviewing and transcribing. At Birdie, I was able to reach out to the right people with the help of our fantastic account manager Ravi and finished the interview process with 2-4 days. I’m amazed by the work ethic, support and efficiency at Birdie. They move SO FAST! 

The work and impact 

Birdie has a very agile working culture, every meeting is taken only when necessary, and time is spent efficiently. Hence I rarely got drained during meetings. Additionally, I can always book a one-to-one session when needed.

I was responsible for delivering two challenging projects relatively independently. Dealing with ambiguity and uncertainty is what my every day looks like. I was often pushed out of my comfort zone, learning something new every day. Although there are many stressful nights, it was fulfilling when I found out the problems and presented the solutions to the company, including the CEO and CPO.

Fun

Finally comes the best perk of working at Birdie, IT IS FUN. My first time joining an 'All Hands' meeting and 'Weekly Demo' opened my eyes that a company meeting could be this much fun. My all-time favourite is the weekly demo, and it always ends my week with lots of laughter on Friday evenings.

Though I have worked remotely for only eight weeks, this summer internship is one of the highlights of my MBA journey.

Enjoyed Mi Mi's story? Why not check out another #ExpertiseEdition, featuring software developer, Leo?