Systems Administrator Intern at Markel Corporation
This summer I worked as a Systems Administrator intern at Markel Corporation in Plymouth Meeting, PA. Markel manufactures fluoropolymer-based products that are used in a variety of industries, such as automotive, telecommunications, and more. Markel is just starting to roll-out their newest product, PTFE membranes which will allow for better and easier filtration of gas and liquids; among other uses.
As a Systems Administrator intern I was responsible for assisting the Systems Administrator in some of the projects he was currently working through. The biggest project I worked on was deploying an internal SharePoint server/site. Before we could take the site live we ran into an issue with the search function; it no longer worked. I was tasked with finding the problem and fixing it. I had to learn everything I could about SharePoint to solve this problem. The solution was to run a SharePoint PowerShell command and restarting a variety of SharePoint services on the server. I also wrote a detailed guide on how to use SharePoint for the rest of the company and was solely responsible for training and assisting anyone with problems. I was responsible for deploying a handful of new computers, laptops, and scanners then decommissioning the machine they were replacing. Lastly, I was the first contact for any computer problems that arose around the company and reporting any serious problems to the Systems Administrator.
This opportunity at Markel was a great experience. I was able to learn a new program, SharePoint, and gain valuable experience in information technology. It was nice to finally see how a company works with my own eyes and meet a bunch of wonderful people. My favorite part of the internship was the server room. It was very small, but I was able to ask questions about each machine and learn exactly what each one did along with security and backup details/protocol.