Why I Joined InfluxData - Sahas Chitlange

By Sahas Chitlange / Company
Oct 07, 2021

After my second internship in Summer 2021, I had found what I wanted to do and where I wanted to do it. InfluxData was a pretty clear choice. Here is how it happened.

Background: In the Spring of 2020, I was applying to internships for the summer with a typical college student approach, sending one application after another to any company that showed up in my LinkedIn search. I was invited for an interview round here, and that’s how I first interviewed with InfluxData.

I spoke with Nathaniel Cook, the Manager on the Flux team. The first conversation was only about my goals and how I could fit into the team/culture. This was very different than most interviews where the companies sent me an online coding test even before speaking to me. Even in the technical rounds, I felt the friendly presence of the interviewer, and it was more of a problem-solving session than a test. We had a back-and-forth about the best solution, and what I could do better in my solution. The process left a positive impression on me.

Nathaniel got back to me after a few weeks that they would like to offer me an internship, and I chose to accept it.

Internship 2020: I joined the Flux team as a software engineering intern, and the internship was fantastic. We were able to contribute to the real codebase that InfluxData’s customers would actually use. This was a big deal! This could have been the very first time I experienced the feeling of what meaningful work felt like.

I and my manager Nathaniel had regular conversations about my path and goals, and on multiple occasions, I kept bringing up my love for design and software. He recommended I try an internship with the UI team.

Internship 2021: So I joined again as an intern on the Dumplings team. My previous internship made me realize I actually like problem-solving using software, unlike in school where I just felt dumb. In this internship, I was combining two of my strong interests: design and software. It was a blast.

I expressed my interest to my manager Kristina Robinson about wanting to work here full-time, and I am glad we were able to work it out. In July 2021, I was working as a full-time software engineer on the Dumplings team.

These are my observations while working as an intern that made choosing InfluxData full-time a no-brainer:

• Competency: The teammates I worked with were extremely competent in what they did — there was always so much to learn from everyone. With that competency, they were super humble and kind. I always felt comfortable reaching out to them for help.
• Culture: The team culture was outstanding. There was a lot of great morale, kindness and openness. To summarize, everyone treated each other as adults. It was that simple but extremely effective in keeping it awesome.
• Discounted insurance plan: For my cat, I mean ;)

I hope this gives you some insight into what it’s like on the inside. Don’t hesitate to reach out to me with questions or even if you just want my cat’s grumpy photos. Here’s my LinkedIn.