So here you are. You’ve brute-forced your way through an hour of gruelling data structures questions. You’ve exaggerated your contributions to a couple of team projects while glossing over your so-called “weaknesses” (let’s get real, being a perfectionist isn’t your biggest weakness). At this point, you’re just bracing yourself for the customary, awkward, sweaty handshake and the feeling of overwhelming relief that follows immediately after.
As you sense your interview is finally coming to an end, your interviewer says:
“Thank you for your time today! HR will be following up with the next steps — Oh! Before we wrap this up, do you have any questions about our company?”
You think for a moment about your most pressing questions. When answered, these will ultimately tell you whether or not this is the right placement for you. One question in particular stands out.
“Yes actually I do… how often do you guys restock the beer fridge?”
Around this time last year, I was asking similar questions during my internship interviews. Since then, I’ve been working as a Software Engineer Intern at EventMobi. Reflecting on my experiences, I’ve learned meaningful internships have nothing to do with ping pong tables or on-demand beer. Shocking, I know.
A meaningful internship helps answer your most important questions. What kind of problems do you want to work on? What are you good at? Who do you envision yourself becoming? This experience is only possible with the right environment and processes in place. The questions you ask in your interview should reveal the questions you’ll answer in your internship.
Ask: Which aspects of software development will I be involved in?
At EventMobi, the interns are involved in full stack development. We build features for our products end to end. This means: we create and manage database schemas, write backend server code and create front-end components. We manage the build and deployment pipeline used to ship features and we’re responsible for the test suite at each and every step. As a result, we acquire a wide breadth of skills.
Why is this important?
Consider Kent Beck’s concept of Paint Drip People. Beck compares exploring new skills to drawing a paint brush across the top of a canvas:
You draw a brush across the top of the canvas.
Sometimes enough paint accumulates that a drip starts to roll.
Once a drip starts to roll, it’s not clear how far it will go.
You keep drawing the brush across the canvas, regardless.
Try new things, try new things, try new things! Give yourself room to experiment and you will naturally gravitate towards particular skills. There’s no telling where your potential lies until you have a good understanding of your options. Look for placements that provide you the opportunity to move the brush along the canvas.
By acquiring a wide breadth of skills, you will also maximize your future career opportunities. You’ll have the knowledge and experience to build your own projects from start to finish. Developing this systems level thinking will distinguish you from your peers early on in your career.
In your interviews, ask about the development stack. In addition to writing code, find out if you will work on quality assurance, testing, platforms and tooling. These are opportunities to learn about the full engineering experience and to let your paint drip down the canvas.
Ask: What processes do you have in place for knowledge sharing?
Ensure the company has a culture that encourages knowledge sharing. It is standard practice for companies to pair you with a mentor, however this doesn’t reveal much about company culture. I’ve heard far too many stories of mentors facing tremendous pressure to meet deadlines and company objectives. In this situation, they’ll likely have little to no time to mentor you. A good question to ask is:
“Will there be dedicated pair programming time with my mentor and other experienced engineers on the team?”
Many intern-hopefuls focus on the engineering knowledge they will gain but overlook other valuable learning opportunities available in an internship. These include public speaking skills, interpersonal and communication skills, business knowledge and much more. It is important a company provides you with avenues to become a more well-rounded individual.
EventMobi holds monthly engineering lightning talks where members of the engineering team give 5–10 minute presentations on particular areas of expertise. Their talks serve as primers to a variety of topics and have been extremely beneficial to me as an intern. Additionally, we host lunch-and-learns where staff give in-depth presentations on topics they are passionate about.
I’ve also taken part in more intimate knowledge sharing through company interest groups we call “chapters”. Currently, I take part in our front-end and writing chapters and facilitate the leadership chapter. To illustrate, the leadership chapter is a book club focused on leadership and management. In our meetings, we discuss lessons learned from each book and consider how we might apply them to our own management processes.
Being an engineer at EventMobi means building a platform for event planners to maximize the value of their events. By attending a conference, I’ve had the unique opportunity to witness our products in action. I was able to develop observational skills and practice gathering feedback from real users.
In your interviews, ask about the learning opportunities you will have outside of your immediate job description. You may find they are just as valuable as your main body of work.
Ask: Will I have enough time to develop as an intern?
Once you determine whether a company can provide you with a meaningful internship, you’ll want to consider some technicalities. One important factor is the duration of your placement. Your internship should be between 8–16 months long in order to truly learn about yourself as an engineer and beyond.
Think about the 6 stages of intern development. First, you will need to become oriented and comfortable in your new environment. Only then can you start digging to answer more meaningful questions. This process alone takes 3–4 months, meaning an internship period any shorter will not be very useful.
The internship program at EventMobi is 12–16 months long. The orientation stage is expedited by pairing new interns with an off-boarding intern for the first four months. The off-boarding intern is also provided with an opportunity to reflect upon and share their experiences, solidifying the knowledge they have gained.
Conclusion
The important takeaway is that you are interviewing the company just as much as they are interviewing you. By asking the right questions, you can ensure that your internship will give you the right answers.
Thanks for reading! If you’re interested in an internship or full-time position at a company that believes in giving its employees opportunities to become paint drip people, EventMobi is hiring!
