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Athen Bozoglu: Marketing Internship Success Story
Let’s talk about your career at GURUS. To start, what position were you hired for?
I was hired at GURUS four years ago for a summer internship position in the Marketing team. At the time, I was studying English Literature and Communications at Concordia University. I was looking for internship programs with Sales and Marketing teams that would help me grow as a professional.
I was attracted to GURUS Solutions because I had heard of their incredible culture from my friend, Jonathan Acoca, who was working in their sales team. From my interviews with Human Resources, I could tell they had a fast-paced environment with a lot of moving parts, and many years of experience taking on interns in their professional services departments.
Their internship program for a Marketer was new, and part of their larger Marketing plan, which immediately sounded exciting to me.
How have you grown into your current role?
As the company grew, so did my role. Halfway through my summer internship, I was offered a part-time position. During my part-time position, I worked with our team to start implementing videos, and building the early version of the website’s blog section. Martin McNicoll, GURUS’ CEO, was always open to creative ideas, and quickly jumped on board for our video creation.
One of the earliest video projects we worked on was What’s the difference between Spreadsheets and Cloud ERP / NetSuite? That was a really fun one to write and film for - we took the simple idea of explainers for a technology audience and we wanted to turn it into a sort of skit. Obviously, none of us were professional actors, but we pulled together and created a makeshift studio at the time.
Martin’s openness and excitement for the project made it a blast and I think the final product turned out pretty nicely considering what we had as resources at the time. After that, I was offered a full-time position.
Over the years, we built out a well-oiled Marketing machine and I realized my passion for different aspects of Marketing and business in general. As our team grew, John and Martin were gracious enough to support me, and help me in carving out my own branch of our Marketing machine, which was Branding and Communications.
Another great aspect of branching out into the brand and communications side of GURUS’ Marketing efforts was travelling to international events and conferences, like the annual Oracle NetSuite SuiteWorld. Once a year, NetSuite ERP customers, developers, consultants, experts and partners come together for a week-long event.
This huge gathering allows you to network, attend impactful learning sessions and expand your knowledge of the NetSuite ecosystem.
It was an incredible experience for a Marketer for several reasons:
- Crafting the branding for the booths (it was the biggest booth GURUS had done yet at that point) was a huge exercise in brand and you saw immediate ROI based on in-person engagement
- It was great to meet clients and network within the NetSuite space, which includes thousands of customers from across the globe and from every industry imaginable
- I got to host our customer appreciation event and meet some of the great people in the businesses across the U.S. and Canada that GURUS serves. We even got volunteers for testimonials that we filmed on the spot!
- It was an opportunity to travel with other GURUS - from every department, including Marketing, Sales, Professional Services and our Executive Team
What drew you to the Marketing team, communications, and brand management?
I have always had a passion for advertising, for videos and for branding. Right after high school, I worked in copywriting for small businesses in Montreal. I went into English Literature and Communications at Concordia University because I wanted to pursue the more practical side of content creation and understand how to find the right audiences and build media that resonates with them.
I actually did freelance work while pursuing my studies and got pretty handy with a camera, lights, sound equipment and other tools which proved useful when GURUS started doing videos.
Every business and every NetSuite client is unique in their own way, which translates into having unique needs. That’s the beauty of marketing NetSuite as a solution for someone who comes from a creative background, it’s not as simple as promoting a product or service.
That actually brings me to my next question: Did you feel like there was a learning curve when you started at GURUS?
As Martin likes to say, “An ERP implementation is like a heart transplant”. It’s a huge endeavor! There is so much learning, and process involved in a business making the choice to implement a new ERP system.
By the time I’d evolved into my role as Senior Brand & Communications Specialist at GURUS, I felt like I had learned so much about so many different industries and business models. It’s really the best part about being in Marketing in SAAS.
How did you find the various transitions you went through here?
Great - from year to year, my progression has always felt organic. The great thing about GURUS is that management gives you so much room to experiment. That was the philosophy that really stuck with me and inspired me from the get-go. There are no bad ideas, unless we know the data says otherwise.
There is no creative hierarchy. These are the two concepts that I quickly grasped and held onto as I evolved into my current role at GURUS and they helped us achieve greater success at every turn - to the point where the company had its best year yet in 2020! The Marketing team has also grown and become a lot more sophisticated with so many great facets. We really have a powerhouse team.
How has your team grown in the past 4 years since you started?
When I started at GURUS, it was just John (the Marketing Manager), Ivan (the Designer) and myself on content, campaigns and communications. We had a lot of work ahead of us, but teamwork is so strong at the company that we rolled up our sleeves and played many roles. It has never been a “me, myself, and I” philosophy at the company.
I had the great opportunity to work with a number of different and excellent Marketers during my time at the company and they each brought in their own knowledge and experience, which was fantastic. It was incredible to see that growth firsthand from the start to where it is now.
Were there any constants you noticed throughout your career? (ex: management style, culture, etc.)
Culture is the heart of GURUS. The company events, the people, the general openness, all of it made every day feel less like work, and coming in to work towards a common goal with incredible people.
I made friends that I have had adventures with, that I’ve travelled with to places like Las Vegas, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Jose & San Francisco with, and that I’ve happily had beers with at the company’s Friday Happy Hour. There has never been a dull moment in my journey with GURUS and I cherish all the great memories I’ve made with the wonderful people I’ve met there.
Our project teams regularly work with each other, and we help each other out in terms of knowledge sharing as well. We are actually encouraged, and pushed to share our knowledge through our multiple platforms.
There are specific onboarding processes that require knowledge sharing and collaboration as well. You’re assigned a buddy on your first day, and have multiple training sessions with different departments. We really value collaboration over competition.
What, in your opinion, makes a great digital marketer?
Someone who is excited - to learn, to discover, to meet people, to try new things and fail and keep trying. Everything else is learned over time, but you have to have that genuine excitement at your core.
Is there a particular experience or memory that sticks out as a highlight of your career here at GURUS?
Attending SMX (Search Marketing Expo) in California was an eye-opening experience. As part of my learning journey at GURUS, I was encouraged and given the opportunity to attend the massive Marketing conference with specialized sessions on everything SEO, PPC/SEM, analytics, content marketing, CRO, technical SEO, marketing technologies, Google updates, and more.
I came back with a very different perspective on the technical side of digital marketing. It was such a great experience as it was my first time attending a Marketing conference of its size, with the leading experts across all major industries and from every part of the world.
How was working with the GURUS Product team as the company takes on the transition from a professional services business in the NetSuite ERP space to a product company with its own IP?
Incredible experience! In 2020, GURUS Solutions started to move into creating its own IP with products like the GURUS NetSuite Data Exporter and GURUS BI (Business Intelligence) for NetSuite.
I had the great privilege to work with our first ever product team on the go-to-market for these powerful solutions geared towards Oracle NetSuite clients. I worked closely with Neil Stolovitsky, who is an incredible talent and a rockstar when it comes to everything NetSuite and Business Intelligence.
I am grateful to have had the opportunity to be part of such a landmark moment in GURUS Solutions history, as they transition from Professional Services to a Software company with their own unique solutions for the market.
Learn Why So Many Companies Across North America Choose GURUS
What advice do you have for future GURUS?
Be a team-player, take every opportunity to listen and learn something new, and always find a way to enjoy you rself. No one takes themselves too seriously at GURUS, it’s a fast-paced environment, but everyone is laid back.
Enjoy the laughs, the friendships, the events and the challenges that will help you grow, because time passes quickly when you’re building great things with great people!
Priscilla Ip: Cloud Developer Internship Story
Finding the right internship can prove to be challenging, with many leaving you without enough comprehensive experience to enter the workforce. At GURUS Solutions Inc. we understand this, and strive to make sure you leave your Cloud Developer internship feeling confident enough to take the next steps in your career.
As an intern at GURUS you have the opportunity to learn directly from our senior staff, VPs, and even our CEO. You will see projects from start to finish, and communicate directly with clients throughout the process. Stick around on Friday afternoons for our happy hours, and build relationships with your colleagues that will last long past the end of your internship!
Don’t take our word for it! One of our former Cloud Developer interns and recent McGill graduate, Priscilla Ip, chats about her experience at GURUS and what set her internship here apart from the rest.
Was there valuable information that you learned during your Cloud Developer Internship at GURUS that applies to your work or study life now?
GURUS was my first real technical internship, I would say. So I learned a lot of basic workplace skills, and the typical process for how work gets done. From requirements, to deploying (a project). It applies to my life now as coding and programming is the work I am currently doing.
How would you describe your role to your classmates?
It’s more of a full stack developer role. You’re developing on the front and back end, but it’s particular to NetSuite.
Was there any overlap between your internship and what you were learning at the time?
If you're looking for a software-oriented career, this is really great because the internship lasts 8 months and you get to really dive deep into the projects. Projects at GURUS span anywhere from 2 weeks to a few months, so you really get to see the whole process from start to finish.
You can be the one to gather the requirements, do the design and deploy. You get to see the whole thing whereas, I feel like, if you work somewhere else that only does larger scale projects, you don’t really get to see or do everything.
Are there any lessons or memories that inform your current career path?
I think something that’s going to be really useful for the future is the exposure to clients. Interns have the same exposure as full-time employees, and our team leads trust us with dealing with clients directly.
For me, that meant being on client calls, sending them emails, presenting demos to them, and explaining errors or why something isn’t as easy as they think it will be. I think that was really cool, and something that most interns don’t get exposed to.
In the beginning I was super nervous about it, I would spend 30min writing an email and by the end, with particular clients, it would just be me on calls with them. I think it kind of broke down that barrier of being scared of clients, and taught me that they are just people and there’s nothing to be that uptight about.
Is there a technical challenge or accomplishment that you were particularly proud of?
A unique experience was a project I was on with two colleagues, and mid-project, the person with the most experience and longest relationship with the client left the company. My other colleague, who was also new to the project, was left picking up the pieces. We were kind of at a loss, but by the end, things went really well and we got great feedback from the client. That was great!
Was there anything about the culture at GURUS that stood out for you?
On my very first day, as I was being introduced to people, everyone was like “hi this is my name, this is what I do” and, basically, every single person said “if you have any questions or need any help with anything please come ask me. If I don’t know how to help I’ll help you find someone who does”.
You think that everyone just says that, but at GURUS everyone actually meant it. (...) They were always super kind and would drop whatever they were doing to help, or refer me to the right person. (...) I felt comfortable there immediately.
Did you find building relationships was encouraged, and did you maintain any relationships after your internship ended?
People were just generally really friendly, so I don’t know if that equates to it being encouraged, it just seemed like part of the culture. I think that a lot of people at GURUS built lasting friendships. I still chat with a bunch of people from the office, and we would hang out outside of work.
Is there a memory of your internship that sticks out as a highlight?
Something that was really funny was at the Summer Hangout we were split into teams for a team building activity and I was put on a team with Dom (Dominique Frechette, General Manager). I kept hyping everyone up and saying, like, listen guys we’re going to win, this is going to happen!
Dom said “I’ve worked here for five years, and haven’t won one of these things once”. I said, listen, today is the day, we’re going to crush this, and then we ACTUALLY won. Well, we kind of cheated...
Another memory is when, on April Fools Day, David (David Gosselin) went around the office and put stickers over the lasers of our mice, that was hilarious. Also in general people pranking each other's desks. In particular when Andrew came back from Hawaii and we decorated his desk with flowers, leis, and an inflatable shark.
Was there a colleague in particular that taught you something valuable?
Andrew (Andrew Kefalas) was my boss and Maggy (Maggy Pereia) was my buddy, and they really made my experience. Andrew was the best boss ever, he’s very calm and understanding. I honestly think he might be the best boss I’ll ever have. I know we all like to give him a hard time, but that’s sort of what’s great, having that really comfortable relationship.
Maggy was really vital to my work experience at GURUS as she was the first person to help me, and introduce me to people. She’s so friendly, and has a relationship with so many people, which exposed me to that and made me more comfortable knowing that it’s ok to just chat with people.
What advice do you have for future interns at GURUS?
Relax! Don’t be stressed, and don’t be afraid to ask people questions. From a technical standpoint, if you have a basic knowledge from school you should be fine, you basically learn everything you need to know on the job.
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Terrence Gao: Data Integration Specialist Internship Success Story
Here’s a Little Bit About Me
My name is Terrence Gao, I am a third year student at McGill university, studying Software Engineering & Economics. Like most of you reading this, I was in the second half of my post secondary education, and I didn’t have a clue of what to expect in the workforce.
I had two internships prior to working at GURUS, but I still felt like I was unready to take on a job in my field. I am now finished with my internship at GURUS, and here are some highlights of my internship experience.
How I Found Out About The Internship
I first interacted with GURUS at the McGill Tech Fair. Like many of my peers, I printed out 20 copies of my resume and was ready to give them out to anyone that would give me the time of day. I was prepared to take a semester off and pursue an internship, because I hoped to take a job that would teach me more than I would learn in a semester's worth of classes.
To my surprise, I held on to more copies than I thought I would, I found myself not as interested as I thought I would have been in a lot of the companies tabling, and I didn’t think I would be able to learn enough in many of the internship opportunities offered. That is until I found myself standing in front of the GURUS banner.
It became immediately apparent to me that GURUS is different from the other companies I’ve talked to. Dylan, who was tabling at the time, gave a very passionate yet detailed rundown on the nature of the products and services GURUS provides.
What surprised me the most, is that after Dylan finished giving me and a few other interested students an introduction to the company, he was really interested in what I had to say. He was actively listening to why I was interested in GURUS and why I thought I was a good fit; I could tell because he was writing down notes on my resume as I was nervously giving my pitch.
I was then referred to Leila, who managed my application process. I was given assurance that my application would be carefully reviewed and that they would be in touch.
Within a few days after the Tech Fair, I received a phone call from Leila with some basic personality questions. She also wanted to confirm my availability for interviews. I was then presented with a typical online, and an invitation for an on-site interview. A week after my final round of interviews, I was offered an internship opportunity, which I immediately accepted.
Onboarding & First Impressions
At the start of my internship, I was given onboarding training, detailing every aspect of the work in GURUS, from business philosophy to standard process of day-to-day procedures. Many of the onboarding sessions are given by the higher ups in the company, including the VPs, various team leaders, and even the CEO.
The process gave me an impression of what approachable leadership looks like, and also a very knowledge-filled rundown of the business structure of GURUS.
At the end of my onboarding process, I was also paired up with a buddy, Suhn, to act as my guide within the company. She answered my endless barrage of questions, both technical and non-technical alike, and made a very noticeable effort to make sure I fit in smoothly into my new work environment.
Learning Experience, Project, Team Structure
I was placed in the integration team, as the newest data integration specialist. The team consisted of 9 people including the team lead, Olivier, and a senior team member, Christopher, as my mentor.
The team would meet every Monday morning and members gave updates on, not what they had done, but what they had learned in the past week. It’s one of the few examples of the team environment that Olivier has constructed, which emphasizes learning and communicating.
Right after the onboarding process, I was given a practice task assignment to familiarize myself with both NetSuite and JavaScript, and when I had finished, I was given increasingly challenging tasks. Not only did the tasks increase my familiarity with the technological aspect of the job, but it also allowed me to practice skills such as client communication and time management.
I was very quickly able to put these skills to good use, as I was assigned to a real project for a real client, right as I completed the tasks. To my surprise, I was informed that at GURUS, unlike in a lot of internships, interns are directly put on real projects as a part of their learning experience. Nothing will teach you more about what it’s like to work on a real project than working on a real project.
A major takeaway so far for me is how incredibly structured GURUS is as a professional services company. I got familiar with a variety of tools to make my developing experiences easier, such as project action logs, detailed requirements and design documents, user acceptance test plans, coding templates, and much more.
Unlike my experiences in school or at the other companies, when approaching a project, GURUS tackles the task in a very efficient and planned-out fashion, which is definitely something that I will carry on in my future professional path.
As to my initial uncertainty about my future, GURUS showed me that there is a career path in a growing market that walks between the fields of computer science and consulting. Regardless of whether I would continue in the field of ERP consultation and development, GURUS showed me that students with this combination of passions, like me, have a place in a growing industry.
This internship experience worked as the perfect introduction for me to get my foot in the door, both as a future developer or consultant. I feel much more ready to take on the next task in my professional life.
Life Outside of Work
Another thing that I would like to point out about my experience thus far with GURUS is their focus on life outside of work. There are two planned retreats every year, where the company pays for a full workday off for fun team building exercises, with hotel and accommodations as a gift to the employees.
There are also happy hours every Friday from 4 to 5 pm, with free beer on tap in the break room. In the summer, every week there’s someone going to play frisbee or basketball during lunch, with parks only a walk away from the office.
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