My experience as a Genetec intern

About me

I’m a third year Vanier College Business Management student majoring in marketing. I chose marketing because I’m a creative person who enjoys a challenge. Whether it’s launching a new product to a specific market, creating an e-commerce website, writing a blog post, or building brand awareness - I am up for any challenge.

Once I graduate, I plan on attending the John Molson School of Business to get a Bachelor of Administration (BAdmin) followed by a Master's (MBA).

Why I chose to intern at Genetec

During my final semester at Vanier, I was required to complete a four-week internship. When I first learned about the opportunity to do my internship at Genetec I did some research and discovered that they are leaders in the security industry.

The company was launched in 1997 with less than a handful of people and has grown to over 1,200 employees worldwide and welcomes over 100 new interns every year. Roughly 20% of interns end up getting hired as full-time employees.

With 20+ years of innovation and over 13,000 customers across 149 countries, Genetec has been named Montreal’s Top Employer not once but 13 times! This is a true testament to how much the company cares for its employees. I knew I had to intern at Genetec.

Although I mostly learned about strategy, tactics of brand awareness, how to increase sales, and build brand equity at Vanier, I figured that going a little outside of my comfort zone would be a great learning experience. This is why I applied for the content marketing position.

About my experience

Throughout my time here, I was given different tasks and learned new skills I never knew I would need.  For example, I learned how to optimize content for search engine optimization (SEO). SEO is all about increasing the visibility of your digital content to your target audience. The content team needed my help to fill out missing SEO fields in their blogs.

I learned the importance of including the right keywords so the blogs would be found and ranked higher in search engines like Google. I was also given the opportunity to write my own blog about my experience (the one you’re reading right now!).

Riding first class in the Dodge Charger!

Lucky for me, I was able to get a ride in the Genetec supped-up Dodge Charger. When I first saw the car turn the corner, my first reaction was “this is gonna be fun”. Robert Amante, Product Line Manager for the Security Center AutoVu™ automatic license plate recognition (ALPR) group, was nice enough to take the time to explain the products and give me a ride.

The AutoVu Dodge Charger is fixed with six SharpX ALPR cameras positioned in a way so that they could read the license plates of surrounding cars effectively. These cameras connect with a local processing unit to provide high-accuracy reads. There’s a laptop positioned in the front of the car just as a police vehicle would. The laptop acts as the mobile application for the processing unit which displays the reading of each car’s license plate picked up by the cameras.

Testing ALPR technology

We took off in the Charger and got a demonstration of how parking enforcement officers would use the system. In a parking lot of approximately 60 cars, there were fake license plates that had already been entered into the computer's software as stolen or with outstanding parking fees.

The cameras were able to pick up those plates and set them aside indicating to the driver which cars were of interest. If a car came up as wanted, the system would automatically create a report and send it to law enforcement officers with its GPS coordinates and all other relevant information it had picked up.

I was amazed that we were able to capture all of the license plates in the parking lot within 60 seconds. The Security Center AutoVu system was not just quick but also accurate, and produced high-quality pictures. There was no effort needed and no officers required to walk around and manually write up tickets.

Already impressed by the parking lot demo, Robert took us out on the highway to simulate how law enforcement vehicles benefit from this technology. We were cruising a comfortable 60 KPH and surrounding cars were flying by at a speed of 120 KPH. This was not a problem for the SharpX.

The cameras were able to catch cars up to three lanes over and the speed did not affect the quality of the image at all. Robert explained how the cameras can capture cars up to speeds of 300 KPH. I found it hard to believe him until I read this blog post - and I was completely blown away!

We also had some funny moments in the Charger as drivers stared at our police-like car and slowed down out of concern that they might get a speeding ticket!

What’s next

If someone asked me if Genetec was a good place to do an internship, I would say that it wasn’t a good place but rather an AWESOME place to do an internship! From the people to the company culture, everything was just right. I never felt left out and was able to take part in meetings and projects with the team. From day one, I was welcomed with open arms and warm smiles – everyone made me feel right at home.

During my four-week internship, I learned a different side of marketing. I will definitely be using what I learned and my hope is to have another opportunity to work with the Genetec team when completing future university internships.

I was very satisfied with my experience and with the team that I was placed with as they were very friendly and always made sure to ask if I needed help with anything. I’ve gained insights that will help me in my future – both at University and in the workforce.

Want to intern at Genetec?

If you’re looking for a well-established company to complete your internship or even for a full-time job, Genetec is the place. Looking for an internship? Check out the careers page.

Thanks for reading!