Podcast Transcript:  Preeti: We are back with the tenth episode of Sabre Souvenirs- Sabre India’s official podcast. In the last episode, Archana Gudur – Lead, User Experience (UX) at Sabre GCC Bengaluru, shared with us why User Experience Design is an integral part of any product or service delivery. Today we have with us one of our bright interns from the batch of 2021 – Amitesh Garg. He has joined us as an Associate Software Intern and has recently completed his on-boarding through the Intern Boot Camp 2021 – an intensive on boarding program aimed at grooming the interns into proficient, motivated Sabre engineers Congratulations on joining Sabre as an intern Amitesh. So, tell us about your Intern Boot Camp 2021 journey. Amitesh: I would like to thank the Sabre hiring team for giving me the opportunity to be a part of such a big company. The Intern Boot Camp was organized for the interns who were selected to join Sabre from different universities and institutions and this Boot Camp provided a platform for all of us to interact with each other as well as various company leaders. This Boot Camp also helped us in settling in this organization perfectly. The virtual onboarding was something new for everyone. I had talked to my seniors about all the fun they had attending all the events physically and the online mode was at first not very convenient. But as the things went along, I did not expect the Boot Camp to be this much fun and enriching. The intern Boot Camp started on 1st February and went on for a duration of 3 weeks. All the interns were divided in to 12 teams and each team was assigned 2 mentors to help them. Each week had a separate theme, named -Create, Collaborate and Communicate. These 3 weeks were an amalgamation of various extra-curricular activities as well as various technical sessions. The technical sessions helped me and all of the interns in gaining an insight of what all technologies have currently been deployed in the organization and what all future scopes and goals are there that need to be fulfilled. The extra-curricular sessions gave every intern an opportunity to participate and showcase their skills. The last 3 days of the Boot Camp comprised of a hackathon , in which my team was the runner up.  And a final showdown session, which included a talent face-off competition in which every team actually submitted a video of any extra-curricular activity like dance, music, stand-up comedy, etc. I was very happy to see the amount of efforts put up by the whole organization who helped us interns adjust in the corporate world despite the unprecedented circumstances. Preeti: How do you think Sabre’s on-boarding was different vis a vis your peers who joined other companies? Amitesh: Out of all my friends, there was no organization that actually did anything like the Boot Camp of which we were a part. All the efforts and the hard work put in by the company were visible and very much appreciated, not only by us interns but also by all of our peers who joined different companies. Also, the amount of interaction we were able to achieve not only among ourselves, but also with our leaders despite the pandemic and the virtual method of holding up the Boot Camp , was something different than all the other companies. Moreover, I am proud to be a part of an organization that is so open about all the ups and downs that are occurring with respect to the planned goals. What I have found in the previous month about Sabre is that it is one of the companies that is always aspiring to develop in terms of technology and this spirit also helps us employees to broaden our technical domains. Preeti: What made you choose Sabre? Amitesh: When Sabre came in my college as one of the first campus recruiters in the month of August, I did not know about the company. But the comprehensive preplacement talk held by the officials as well as the research done by me made me realize how vast the organization is. Furthermore, the detailed interview sessions that were held as part of the recruitment procedure attracted me a lot towards the company. I have always been passionate about travelling and technology and I found Sabre the perfect combination as it is one of the top companies in the field of airline and hospitality solutions. Despite everything, from the preplacement talks to the whole recruitment procedure, held in online mode, the smoothness in the overall process made me realize what an amazing opportunity I was given to join such a prestigious organization.   Preeti: This year, we did the onboarding virtually. Talk about ways in which you collaborated with your peers in this new set up? Also, share one of the biggest takeaways from your Boot Camp journey. Amitesh: Collaboration was one of the key aspects to make this Boot Camp successful. To promote communication, the interns were divided into teams and each team was assigned 2 mentors. We were given different tasks every day that we were able to fulfil only due to active collaboration. Also, our mentors were available for us all the time and helped us immensely which created a cordial bond between us. Moreover, the technical sessions were way more interactive that helped in understanding a lot of things in great depth. I remember that during my hackathon, I was online with my team members and mentors for 15 hours continuously, so despite the virtual hinderance, we all were able to communicate and collaborate a lot. My biggest takeaway from the Boot Camp journey was that anything is possible if we put our minds and efforts into it. This takeaway was due to 2 major reasons: the tasks I was able to accomplish with collaboration of my team and mentors, and the way virtual onboarding was such a successful event despite the obvious hinderance due to the pandemic. Preeti: What are you working on currently that makes you feel inspired? Amitesh:  I have always been a keen technology enthusiast. I like to learn new things regarding programming and technological advancements and the team that I have been assigned to work with is enriching my knowledge a lot. I come from a different coding background, but my team is based on a completely different one. So I am learning a lot of new things on a daily basis I am elated to know that all the development that I would be doing as part of this team would actually go into production and would be live for all the company’s clients to use. Preeti: Share with us some of your favorite moments and experiences from the Boot Camp that brought you joy. Amitesh: My favorite time in the company till now has been the 3 weeks of Boot Camp that I attended. There are a lot of memories created in this Boot Camp that I would never forget. Some of them that I would like to share are like the hackathon that was held. The various innovative ideas that were presented by my colleagues were very inspiring. Also, the way my team and my mentors collaborated without even keeping track of time was something I would never forget. Furthermore, I hardly participated in extra curriculars during my time in my university. But the platform Sabre provides to showcase various talents gave me the confidence to come up and perform, which even led to me winning the talent face-off competition. I really feel lucky to join an organization that pushes us forward in all domains of life. Preeti: Thank you for taking the time and sharing your journey with us today. We will keep coming back with more stories being shared by various people in the upcoming podcast. The link to our podcast will be updated on our website as and when they happen. Keep visiting our YouTube page, and other social media channels for more such stories. ————————————————————————————————————————————–