From the Trenches
42 Silicon Valley’s FileMaker Internship program
“FileMaker is Apple’s Best-Kept Secret” — every employee ever at FileMaker, Inc.
When I first signed up to participate in 42 Silicon Valley’s FileMaker Internship program, the above quote was the first thing I ever heard about FileMaker software. All hyperbole aside, I think I must have heard this at least ten times during my training at FileMaker headquarters. The question is: what does that even mean?
Before I delve into the existential quandary that is FileMaker, a little bit about myself for context: I have a master’s degree in Viola Performance from the University of Denver and the only coding experience I had prior attending 42 was trying to create websites from the original HTML in high school.
If you don’t know what 42 Silicon Valley is, it’s a self-paced learning institution in Fremont, CA that’s free and provides free housing so that you can learn how to learn. 42 Silicon Valley teaches you how to be an insatiably curious and self-driven programmer, unafraid of failure. Be warned, though: It’s hard, especially if you don’t come from a coding background. Despite this, if you’re prepared to work, the rewards are great. Case in point: the FileMaker / 42 SV Partnership.
The FileMaker / 42 SV Intern partnership between the school and FileMaker, Inc. provides interns ready-trained in FileMaker for Platinum Level FBAs (FileMaker Business Alliance members). We had a month to learn the FileMaker platform at 42 at a self-directed pace and then we spent three days training at FileMaker, Inc. Headquarters with Cris Ippolite from iSolutions. After our training with Cris, we created a group project based on one of the Developer Conference challenges from a few years back and interviewed with a few FBA partner companies for internships. I consider myself extremely lucky to have landed an internship with Codence and am so grateful for the chance to work with such a great group of people.
If you’re reading this and considering an internship with Codence, you should do it — they’re great! One of the things I like best about my colleagues is that everyone is excited about FileMaker development and it’s contagious! I’ve also been extremely impressed with how willing the developers are to take the time to pair program or answer any questions that you have.
So, what does “FileMaker is Apple’s Best-Kept Secret” mean now that I’ve got two months of experience with FileMaker development under my belt and landed a sweet internship? To me it is this: If you want to create custom application solutions in a sixth of the time it would take you with any other language while getting some UI/UX design experience and relational theory in while you’re at it, learn FileMaker. If you need a “Workplace Innovation Platform” — FileMaker’s coined term to describe just what the technology does for its customers — to help solve problems too small for enterprise solutions yet too big for appliance apps (like Microsoft Excel), FileMaker gives you the tools to build your own great software. There’s also a huge online community and everyone is willing to go to great lengths to help you with any questions that you have. One of my fears entering into the program was that FileMaker was a distinct, siloed platform: but fear not, you can integrate with websites, APIs, SaaS applications, and even GPS or IoT instruments!
Interested in what FileMaker Inc. has to say about the FileMaker / 42 SV partnership? Check out FileMaker’s announcement here: FileMaker, Inc., a subsidiary of Apple Inc., and 42 Silicon Valley today announced a partnership to develop the next generation of custom app developers.
Want to know more about what 42 Silicon Valley does or try your hand at the first round of acceptance tests?
