I want to be completely honest here. I'll start by saying I love the Salesforce Recruiting team, and especially Ben Amerault. Ben played a very crucial and significant role in me getting this internship.

The journey began about a year ago when I first got in touch with Ben. I was studying at the time and reached out to him through an internal referral. I emailed him, stating that I was looking for an internship opportunity. He had me fill out the required intern application on the portal and then guided me into the interviewing pipeline by sending me a Hackerrank assessment.

The Hackerrank assessment went well; the questions were of average difficulty. However, after completing it, there wasn't much response from Salesforce. I realized either all positions had been filled, or I had perhaps not performed well enough in the coding assessment.

I used to email Ben for updates, and he would always be very informative and helpful. He would tell me where I stood in the pipeline and that the team was still looking for a role where my profile could match.

Months passed, and I had literally given up any hope of interning at Salesforce for Summer 2020. Then, one fine day in April 2020, I emailed Ben again. I expressed that I would be grateful for an update on whether I was moving forward. If not, I asked if he could consider me for full-time opportunities for the following year.

Ben replied, stating that all positions had been filled. He appreciated me keeping in touch and assured me he would hold onto my profile for full-time positions.

To be honest, I wasn't expecting a reply. By this time, COVID-19 had caused lockdowns, and everyone was working from home. I wasn't sure if he would take the time to reply to my emails.

A few days after that email, I received another message from Ben regarding a newly opened opportunity and whether I would be considered for it. I was so surprised and happy that Ben remembered me and reached out as soon as he learned about this.

I accepted, and he referred me to a different recruiter who handled my interviews for the team where I am currently interning. I truly thank my stars that I made it through the interviews and got to intern with Salesforce.

Looking back, the turning point for me to secure this internship was Ben remembering to contact me. If Ben hadn't been so kind as to reply to my constant emails whenever I asked for an update, I don't know what would have happened.

I had applied to multiple companies, but I never had such a personal interviewing experience. Recruiters who replied to my emails even when positions were filled, and who made sure to reach out when a new position opened up – I cannot express how grateful I am to Ben, Salesforce, and Mulesoft for this internship opportunity. Thank you!

I had a very long interview on DSA, Web Application Development & Kafka.