Key Takeaways From My Software Engineering Internship
Last December 2021 I started my first ever software engineering internship at Apium Innovation, a tech startup in Colombo Sri Lanka. And for the past 6 months, I have been working with amazing people and learning how to become a professional computer programmer.
In this article, I’ll share my experience as a Software Engineering Intern at Apium Innovations, as a form of both reflection and sharing
Power of LinkedIn
Instead of going through Job Posting sites, I used to search for new opportunities on LinkedIn. Having a strong LinkedIn profile always increases the chances of getting an internship. Before searching for an internship I completed several Portfolio projects and mentioned those projects in my LinkedIn profile. I included all my current skills and objectives in my profile which helped me to reach out to opportunities that matched my preferences.
Importance of cultivating the right attitude
In the first few days, I had no idea what was going on and was completely overwhelmed with the list of technologies, terms, and methodologies I wasn’t familiar with at all. However, as the time passed I was able to ease myself into the job and ended up reading articles, and guides, or watching tutorial videos every day which I enjoyed a lot.
Asking questions is one of the most important things when it comes to learning as It improves learning if we ask the right questions. Some might consider asking questions as a weakness.
During my internship, I understood that playing dumb when learning new things helps us to get to the level that we need to go to much quicker.
I strongly believe that learning new skills is not a responsibility or another task but a desire to expand the level of knowledge. One needs to have a passion for what he/she doing, be willing to try new things, and learn from the mistakes.
Building a team-based mindset
During my internship, I was able to collaborate with Designers, other engineers, the product team, and even the marketing team. Working with people who played various roles helped me to build a team-based mindset and adapted to the new environment much more quickly. I was always encouraged to draw the bigger picture when it comes to goal settings of projects instead of my individual output. At Apium, each task was considered as teamwork where everyone contributed rather than an individual thing. Working with a team expanded my knowledge in many ways and was able to be more responsible when it comes to completing assigned tasks.
Maintaining a growth mindset through the mentorship
Throughout my internship, at Apium Innovations I had a great working relationship with my intern mentor. My mentor’s immense support to transit into a new role at the organization helped me to focus on my career development. He was always willing to spend time explaining more advanced engineering concepts and encouraging me to do my own research about various topics. I strongly believe his positivity and can-do mindset helped me to transit into a person who was ready to take on any complicated task.
Something that I appreciate is how he always captured the areas I was excelling in and areas I preferred to work on. That was how I got an opportunity to work on a project that used serverless architecture during my Internship.
I had a monthly one-on-one meeting with my mentor where he shared his feedback about my growth and we discussed steps I can take to improve my tech skills. These meetings played a colossal role to identify the level of knowledge that I needed to achieve certain objectives.
Learning should be a continuous process
One of the biggest things about working for a tech startup is that you are not entitled to a specific role and the learning opportunities are endless. It gradually became clear to me that learning is not gonna stop once you become a developer. Most importantly when working with a smaller team you have the opportunity to expand your expertise according to your preferences.
During my internship at Apium, I not only expanded my coding skills but also got the opportunities to participate in each process in the software development cycle while working on projects. This helped me to complete the assigned tasks easier and be more responsible.
I started as a JavaScript developer and knew only react.js. However, I was able to learn and worked with Node.js, Typescript, AWS, and many more technologies within a few months with the support of my mentor. I strongly believe that continuous learning and curiosity about new subjects helped me to improve my technical skills.
Final Thoughts
After successfully completing my internship, I was lucky enough to get a permanent position at Apium Innovations where I feel motivated and happy all thanks to the amazing people around me.
I am always grateful for the opportunity that Apium Innovations had given me to grow and learn with them. The lessons I have learned during my Internship play a huge role when it comes to working as a Software Engineer in the IT industry. I always admire how Apium Innovations encourage everyone to work together in order to solve pressing problems while treating every team member equally.
At Apium Innovations we build world-class software products while following the best practices in software engineering , follow us to learn more.
Thank you for reading!
