I recently joined AWS as an SDE intern. One of the onboarding tasks is build network by inviting some suggested L6/L7 software devs/managers. I know this is a valuable opportunity to speed my growth as an intern. However, I am pretty stuck on what I should be asking in these meetings/conversations. Any tips on how to engage in a good conversation with people with much higher position than you are, especially on what to focus for these conversations? Thanks!

That's really helpful! Thanks very much for your prompt response, Alex!

What to talk about with L6/L7 software engineers/managers as an AWS intern

Congrats on securing an Amazon internship! No easy feat, especially in this economy. I recommend our internship course if you haven't gone through it already: The Software Engineer Internship Survival Guide

When it comes to initial 1 on 1 meetings, especially with far more senior people, your goal is mostly just to establish positive vibes. Don't overthink things and put pressure on yourself to ask some sort of genius question. Go in, be happy, be excited, be enthusiastic, be grateful for the opportunity.

Tactically, the main way you can add value to them is simple: By doing tasks. Tell them that if there's any small issues (tiny bugs, missing unit tests, UI is slightly off, etc), you're happy to take them on. These small polish/"responsibility" tasks are important to do, but they're usually not worth a senior+ engineer's time. On the other hand, they are perfect for junior folks like interns 😁

For some fun ideas on questions to ask, you can even check out the behavioral interview course: https://www.jointaro.com/course/master-the-behavioral-interview-as-a-software-engineer/double-dip/

What to talk about with L6/L7 software engineers/managers as an AWS intern

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