At Verkada, we’re on a mission to protect people, property and privacy. As we continue to work towards this goal, we’re looking for bright, motivated individuals to join our team and help build products that keep people safe. To give you a sneak peek at what this looks like, we chatted with Amy Kim to learn more about her experience and her impact as both an intern and returning new grad engineer.
Tell us about your role and team!
Hi, my name is Amy, and I’m a front-end engineer on the Cameras Home team! Our team has a big responsibility — we develop and maintain the Cameras home page within Verkada’s physical security management platform, Command. Working on the Home team has been super rewarding because the projects I’ve taken on are highly visible and impactful because lots of our customers use these features every day.
Why did you join Verkada?
As someone early in their career, I focused on finding a place where I could learn from others, work on exciting projects, and make a tangible impact. I knew that I wanted to work for a company where my ideas and opinions would be valued and I could jump into some exciting, high-risk, high-impact projects even as an intern. This meant being somewhere that offered plenty of mentorship opportunities. After talking to the team members from Verkada during the interview process, I quickly realized that I’d found my perfect fit!
What has been your favorite project to work on so far?
My favorite project so far has been revamping the floorplans and adding modals. Floorplans is one of the newer features within Home and has interesting challenges to tackle — not only did I create and modify complicated data structures, but the project also forced me to dig deeper into the fundamental cores of React. I also developed soft skills through in-depth collaboration with the design and product teams, having weekly meetings with the VP of Design, John Russell.
What is your team culture like?
My manager and teammates are awesome! They’re always so supportive and help me stay on track to reach my goals.
One challenge they helped me overcome occurred during the development of smaller projects — when I sometimes struggled with implementing scalable structures. My mentors helped me improve by working with me one-on-one and walking through how they implemented similar structures in the past. Because our team has such open lines of communication between engineers of all levels, I feel extremely comfortable asking questions about how to solve different problems and suggesting new ideas that could add to our product.
What was your favorite part of your internship?
One of my favorite parts of my internship was becoming friends with the other interns in my cohort. Getting to know everyone and hanging out at intern events and outside of work was such a blast. Learning about everyone’s different projects and interests within engineering was eye-opening, especially all the various facets of engineering that I hadn’t had the chance to explore yet.
One moment that stands out as a highlight during my internship was the intern barbeque hosted by co-founder and Executive Chairman Hans Robertson. The food was great, but the coolest thing about the whole experience was that at one point, I was hanging out with my fellow intern, and a few minutes later, chatting with Hans!
What do you love about the Bay Area?
The proximity to nature here is truly unbeatable. Coming from New York, I never thought of myself as a ‘nature person,’ but this place changed that completely. The scenery is so jaw-dropping that I’ve become a regular hiker! Plus, being close to Lake Tahoe is a dream come true for an avid skier like me.
San Francisco also has an incredible food scene; it’s almost as good as back home. There are so many great spots to try, and it’s been so fun exploring all the different foods The Bay has to offer.
What is some advice you’d give to students interested in Verkada?
I’ve met the most talented and passionate engineers at Verkada. It’s tough not to feel motivated to become a better engineer when you’re surrounded by a team as experienced and genuine as this one. If you’re seeking interesting projects and looking to learn from seasoned experts that love what they do, consider joining!
