My summer as a Figtern | Figma Blog

Jaelyn Brown describes her 2022 internship at Figma, from discovering the opportunity through a platform supporting minority students to leading an HBCU recruiting strategy. She found Figma’s interview process welcoming, its hybrid workplace flexible, and its culture strongly focused on intern growth and inclusion. Her experience showed how an internship can combine professional development with meaningful work aimed at improving access to technology careers.

Finding the Figma Opportunity

• Brown discovered Figma’s Early Career Program Manager internship through Student Career Studio, which connects minority students with career opportunities.
• As a Howard University student, she understood the experiences and priorities of HBCU applicants.
• Conversations with hiring manager Kristen Dauler emphasized Figma’s investment in employees and inclusive company culture.
• The interview process focused on Brown’s interests, passions, and growth rather than formal presentation, allowing her to be authentic.

Starting as a Figtern

• Brown moved from North Carolina to San Francisco and began her internship on May 23, 2022.
• Her onboarding included virtual sessions and meeting the intern cohort.
• Hybrid work allowed her to split time between home and Figma’s San Francisco office.
• Interns were treated as important members of the company, including through an ask-me-anything session with co-founder Dylan Field.

Working in Early Career Recruiting

• The Early Career Recruiting team manages hiring and strategy for interns and candidates with up to 12 months of industry experience.
• Brown received regular one-on-ones and guidance on interview processes, recruiting strategy, and external partnerships.
• The team collaborated with Engineering, Design, Marketing, and other departments to improve the applicant experience.
• She worked on Maker Week projects and Fignite, a program offering interview preparation to underserved people pursuing software engineering roles.

Developing an HBCU Recruiting Strategy

• Brown’s experience with Fignite inspired her main internship project: creating a strategy for recruiting HBCU students.
• She conducted cross-functional meetings, held one-on-ones, and led brainstorming sessions to develop campus and virtual engagement plans.
• The project allowed her to take ownership of work with significant potential impact.
• Because both Brown and her grandmother attended HBCUs, the initiative had personal importance and addressed what she viewed as a broader lack of lasting relationships between technology companies and HBCU communities.

Figma’s internship program gave Brown practical recruiting experience, meaningful ownership, and the opportunity to use her personal background to advance more inclusive hiring connections.