Community and Career Growth in the Technology Development Program Part 1

What’s unique about the Technology Development Program at UnitedHealth Group?

It’s the perfect transition from college to full-time work. You can try out different areas that you’re interested in and find out what you like (or what you don’t like) before you apply for a full-time role. You will have a mentor throughout the program, who will help walk through everything and how to navigate your way through the full-time employment experience.

Why UnitedHealth Group?

I chose to work for UnitedHealth Group because I found a good culture fit with the way I work. It’s easy to see how you’re making a difference in people’s lives – employees or patients. I’m never afraid to talk to anybody no matter their hierarchy or position. I feel comfortable approaching anyone. Everyone is very friendly and willing to help you out.

What advice for an intern or new grad joining the program?

For someone joining the program, my advice is:

• Be open to networking. Your first week will be a lot of networking. You’ll be meeting all your fellow TDP associates and making friends.

• Be open to learning. You’ll be learning different roles in each rotation throughout the program. There’s a big difference between learning in school and learning in the real world.

What can interns and new grads expect coming in?

Interns and new grads will make meaningful impact in this organization and the health system overall. During my internship, I worked as a System Analyst. Within that role, I worked on a clinical application that’s currently being used by nurses and doctors.

Right now I’m making a difference as a Quality Assurance Analyst on servers. I’m actually putting servers out to production and getting ready for customers to use. It’s pretty cool to know I’m making an impact.

How did you start your career?

I started my career here as an IT intern during the summer. I worked on a clinical application. During my internship, I met a lot of awesome people. I learned a lot and I was happy to accept a full-time offer when I received it.

What can students expect in their first year?

Expect to gain a huge network of coworkers within the program. Those coworkers will become friends. You’ll be hanging out with them after work for happy hours or bowling. You can also expect to do a lot more social responsibility than you’d expect. We do a lot of volunteer events within the program. In the summer, we did Second Harvest Heartland where we packaged food for the community. In the fall, we did Habitat for Humanity where we helped build two houses. We booked the whole week and we made a lot of progress for the community. We also fixed and cleaned bikes for kids. Expect to lead a very meaningful lifestyle outside and inside of work.

What are you most proud of?

I am most proud of building a site that’s used by my team on an everyday basis. It’s really satisfying being able to build something that’s actually useful to people and helping make your team more efficient at what they’re doing. And putting smiles on people’s faces!