Supervisor Feature: Genesys Works Twin Cities is grateful to have over 200 supervisors in our network of devoted IT and business professionals that support and mentor our young professionals. This April, we want to recognize Kalvin Parman at Medtronic for his phenomenal work as a Genesys Works supervisor. Kalvin’s intern, Angelina Vang, nominated her supervisor to be our featured supervisor because of the meaningful internship experience he’s providing.

Kalvin utilizes two impactful techniques to provide a meaningful internship experience for his intern Angelina.

Sharing his personal tips and tricks for doing well in a professional workplace

Very early on in the internship year Kalvin taught Angelina to “take notes like the person reading your notes doesn’t know anything.” As an IT professional, Kalvin’s learned the importance of taking strong notes and having good documentation techniques, so Kalvin prioritized teaching and sharing that wisdom with his intern too. Eight months later, this is one of the lessons Angelina is most grateful for. Angelina shared that Kalvin’s notetaking methodology has really shaped her ability to learn a lot of new skills in a very short amount of time.

Leveraging 1:1s with his intern to motivate and push her out of her comfort zone

Despite having a busy schedule, Kalvin consistently makes time to meet with Angelina for 1:1s. In addition to checking in on Angelina’s progress on tasks, Kalvin really uses this time to make sure Angelina is professionally developing. Kalvin frequently asks Angelina about her college applications, major plans, etc. Additionally, Kalvin makes a point to ask Angelina about whether she’s built new relationships at Medtronic during that week because he knows the value of having a professional network. Moreover, Kalvin builds in time to ask Angelina about her career goals so he can advise and provide more opportunity in areas she’s interested in.

Kalvin also uses 1:1s with Angelina to provide feedback and motivate his intern for the next week. Angelina shared, Kalvin always “pairs good with bad.… Even in situations where I’ve messed up, Kalvin gives me feedback in a way that always makes it clear that he wants me to do well and that he cares about me as a person!” Kalvin’s tone and communication style as a supervisor is motivating. He doesn’t shy away from coaching but does it in a way that makes Angelina feel comfortable and supported.

Advice from Kalvin: “I recommend learning as much as you can from your interns and also help guide them and push them to deliver beyond their comfort zones. Share how their work impacts the business and invite them to demonstrations or walk-throughs to experience the business impacts first-hand. The more they know about their impact, the more bought in they are to doing great work.”

Intern Feature: Genesys Works Twin Cities has over 280 amazing young professionals in our program – engaged and motivated interns working towards career success in their future. This April, we are recognizing Anisa Hassan, a Hopkins High School senior interning at Cargill. Anisa’s supervisor, Christopher Garner, nominated Anisa based on her leadership skills in the internship.

Here are some of the highlights that truly encapsulate how Anisa maximizes her internship experience:

Managing a new intern competition for all Genesys Works interns at Cargill

Anisa led a friendly intern competition and personally completed a substantial amount of work, winning the individual competition, and contributing significantly to the overall success of the team. Because of Anisa’s drive and innovation on the IT form conversion project, the team exceeded their goal of 100 forms in one month and earned a pizza party. Her experience and knowledge of the applications and processes used for this conversion project were invaluable to her team. She leveraged her insight to train the other interns and verify the quality and accuracy of the completed forms. Like a true leader, Anisa effectively challenges and supports her intern peers at Cargill.

Anisa developed her own tracking system and really drove engagement, performance, and fairness throughout the entire process.

Throughout the competition, Anisa consistently thought ahead and took initiative to achieve results faster, more accurately, and in a transparent and fair way. Anisa’s extra effort is noticed and greatly appreciated by her team and Cargill.

Always seeking new learning opportunities and showing investment in learning more about her role and Cargill as a business:

Anisa’s greatest strength is her ability to quickly understand an objective based on preliminary requirements, critically analyze the variables involved, and creatively work to accomplish the objective quickly. Even when requirements change (as they often do in business), she is able to find creative ways to deliver impressive results ahead of schedule.

Anisa’s so great at tackling objectives largely because she has diligently learned all aspects of her role, which allows her to be efficient and effective. She takes on challenges to lead efforts and takes opportunities to learn about other aspects of the Cargill business. Her attention to detail and quality gives her team complete trust that her work is accurate, complete, and on time the first time.

Advice from Anisa: “Make the most of this internship. We as high school interns are given an advantage that most people don’t get. While working in this internship, I always looked for something new to learn and tried to be as proactive as possible.… You’ve got to put yourself out there and actually try. In my experience, everyone is bad or clueless when we first set out to pursue things we want. The more work you put in, the better you get, and the closer you are to receiving your goal.”