Virtual Onboarding 2021: The Pilot Batch

The year 2020 challenged everyone! Some perished in the uncertainty and others rose to face the adversity in this classic VUCA world scenario. I feel particularly fortunate to be a part of the generation that is witnessing live examples of adapting to change brought in by COVID 19 – be it attending virtual placements or successfully onboarding in a company. My experience at Sabre Intern Boot Camp 2021 – an intensive on-boarding program that helps college graduates transition to the corporate world has been particularly noteworthy in this regard. Sabre’s Intern Boot Camp 2021 for me was a unique experience. None of my other college friends had an induction where people from varied professional and cultural backgrounds came together to curate such a holistic development experience. The three weeks long power-packed Boot Camp commenced with the ‘Curtain Raiser’ ceremony – a platform where the senior leaders shared learnings from their professional journey and imparted words of wisdom. We were encouraged to be curious and take on life’s ordeals with courage. One of my biggest takeaways from the session would be Sabre’s Managing Director and VP – Jaya Jayakumar’s emphasis on BHAG (Big Hairy Audacious Goals) to achieve success. Little did I know then that these were not just words of wisdom but in time, we would have a taste of this ideology too! The Boot Camp was programmed to bring us all together and encourage us to achieve a common (read audacious) goal that wouldn’t have been possible without the shared commitment. Just how wizards are sorted into houses, we were sorted into teams. Each week had a different theme namely Create, Collaborate and Communicate. Activities were designed around these themes and ranged from coming up with team-names, taglines, memes, selfie-contest, personality test discussion, travel tech collage, debate amongst the teams and more. We had a plethora of sessions on various technology and business topics while we directly learned from subject matter experts on technology such as Java, Site Reliability, Service Architecture, User Experience, Middleware, Software Quality Engineering, Design Thinking, GCP and Agile. The overview of all the technologies and practices used at Sabre helped us become more confident and creative while activities like the ‘Go Green Initiative’ and ‘The Wellness Challenge’ ensured that we remained fit and connected to the environment even in a virtual setup. As we started to get comfortable with our routines at the Boot Camp, after we had acquainted ourselves with the people, company and the culture, Sabre surprised us with the announcement of a virtual hackathon. None of us had thought that it would be possible to conduct a hackathon in a virtual setting but working together we gladly overcame that notion. Our batch stayed up multiple nights conducting brainstorming sessions, debugging errors, and innovating products that could shape the world of travel. The constant guidance of our mentors and buddies empowered us all to present impactful ideas to the judges. I was humbled to be amidst such great minds creating solutions that can change the future of travel. Before the start of this internship, I had wondered if it would be possible to bond remotely and transition from college to corporate without human touch. However, by the time we had our Closure Ceremony, all our doubts had been put to rest. Not only do we have enhanced technical and behavioral competency because of the Boot Camp, but we also know each other’s talents and skills. The Boot Camp helped us all realize that if channelled properly, our collective efforts can create wonders and that we are capable of more than we think of. Almost all of us are cognizant of the self-discovery we made about our skills because of the Boot Camp platform. Therefore, I will always cherish this new beginning of my career where Sabre personified its core values of courage and curiosity to help us stand out as committed and socially conscious individuals. So, in the same spirit, I’d leave you all with a thoughtful note. What would you do if you weren’t afraid?