I did a dozen internships, including 4 unpaid ones. It led me to Nvidia and a leadership role in AI.

This as-told-to essay is based on a conversation with Fiona Li, a director of marketing at an AI startup. Li graduated from the University of California, Davis, in 2023. This interview has been edited for length and clarity.

My mom raised me as a single parent, and I didn’t want her to pay for school. I did have financial aid, but it only covers so much of the rent.

I wanted to save money and also attend school, so I looked to scale my career.

I consistently compared myself to students from other top schools. I knew that if I wanted to stand out as a candidate, I needed internship experience — especially because I was a communications major, which isn’t seen as a very strong credential.

In university, I completed eight paid and two unpaid internships. The other two unpaid internships were during the transition to college. I did so many internships to learn and increase my chances of getting a great job after college.

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