Intern Testimonials

"Red Hat is an incredible work environment. You're never given work 'just to keep you busy,' and everyone in the company is accessible. And they really do take open source seriously"

Casey Dahlin
Summer 2007 Intern, Release Engineering

"My first day as an intern, I was immediately treated like a full-time employee. I was given a ton of responsibility and was not micro-managed at all. I wasn't running around getting coffee, or completing 'busy work'. The work I was given was critical to the success of the department. I learned practical skills that I will always use. In short, interning for Red Hat was the best internship I've ever completed."

Jess Gerber
Summer 2007 Intern, Brand Communications and Design

"During the internship I tracked various legislative initiatives and regulations around the world (including Russia, - the country where I am originally from), prepared weekly reports and, most importantly, I had the freedom over what and how I should perform the tasks assigned. I got a chance to apply my academic and professional background as well as my knowledge of Russia to the activities of the Corporate Affairs department. Interning with Red Hat gave me a fresh perspective of how new corporate America operates and handles day-to-day tasks as they relate to international public policy."

Ivan Ivanov
Summer 2007 Intern, Corporate Affairs

"I had an incredible summer. Instead of the normal firm grind, I was able to work with executives across the company on significant research and policy-setting. If you're interested in changing the world instead of doing document review, Red Hat is a terrific place to be."

Luis Villa
Summer 2007 Intern, Legal Affairs

"The company is unique in that interns have visibility and access to senior executives, which is not always possible at other companies. I think that it is great that an hour is set aside every week for the interns to listen to an executive and ask them questions about his or her job, their perspective on company issues, etc. I have enjoyed working with the people here so much that it was an easy decision to accept the offer to intern here for a second summer in a row."

Amy Bailey
Summer 2006 & 2007 Intern, Accounting

"Working in Customer Service was both exciting and challenging. During summer, I was able to interact with customers representing over 150 different organizations, and over 50 different countries from around the world. From Croatia to New Zealand, customers value Red Hat's products and services. I also worked on three significant projects that put my MBA classes to good use.

"As Red Hat grows, it becomes increasingly important to define processes, to stay aware of competitors, and to constantly monitor the customer's satisfaction with the business. My first project was to research and develop metrics for measuring customer satisfaction. In addition, I revised and compiled documentation for the Customer Service group with the help of all CS associates. Finally, I worked with a great team of MBA students from various universities to perform research and analysis for a competitor intelligence project sponsored by the CEO. Working on this project enabled us to talk to and learn from many of Red Hat's worldwide managers and executives. We also interviewed prominent customers about their perceptions of Red Hat, and presented before Matthew Szulik and the executive team. Overall, it was a rich and rewarding internship that I highly recommend to students who wish to pursue a high-tech career."

Arman Assa
Summer 2004 Intern, Customer Service

"My major responsibility as an intern was to draft Red Hat's China Expansion Strategy. Red Hat's senior management had decided that expanding into China was a necessary step for the company's long term success. My job was to look into the market from a Chinese's perspective, help Red Hat to understand the major opportunities and risks, and then make strategic recommendations.

"I feel strongly that there are gaps between academic and real business worlds. We learned a lot of case studies in school but once you get into the real world, suddenly we would realize that solving a case in general is the easiest part. What takes lots of energy and effort in the company is gathering necessary information to make the case. For example, in order to get a demand function of one of our products, I have to design a 1 month survey on a Chinese website. Designing questions, contacting partners, gathering results etc. took me a long time to get done. Whereas in school the demand function usually is a given condition. How to bridge across this gap, however, is a challenge every one of us will have to face after graduation."

Michael Chen
Summer 2003 Intern, Corporate Affairs