Yasmin is a year 10 student at a north London secondary school who recently joined our work experience programme for two weeks. Here’s what she had to say about it…
What attracted you to doing work experience at Potato?
It was only recently that I started to enjoy computer science and began to consider it as a possible career path for the future, so when my computer science teacher told me the opportunity that was at hand it was impossible for me to refuse. In addition to this, I have always pondered about what office life was really like.
What have you been up to over the last 2 weeks?
Over the last 2 weeks, I’ve learned the ins and outs of coding in basic HTML and CSS with the help of the website, freecodecamp. I’ve enjoyed learning new ways of coding as in school we’re limited to learning Python so I found it exciting spotting the similarities and differences between coding languages. I’ve also learned about the different roles here at Potato, for example designer and coach, and what their day to day consists of. As well as this, I’ve been shown the tool “GitLab” and how that’s used by developers here.
What’s surprised you about working at a product development studio?
The environment as a whole has really surprised me! I’ve always assumed all offices were very strict on when teams came in to and left the office and that you had to have a formal appearance at work but it’s the complete opposite here. It’s very relaxed and flexible. For instance, it’s very evident that everyone here loves what they do and you can literally smell the passion in the air as soon as you walk in the studio. Similarly, the fact that an “office” has attributes like couches and a pool table is mind blowing. Potato’s studio is more comfortable than my living room!
What is your biggest learning from your work experience here?
My biggest learning from work experience is the fact that I’ve learned 2 new coding languages. Work experience at Potato has opened my eyes to the different roles and requirements in computer science that I was not aware of before. For example, before work experience at Potato I didn’t know what coaching was in relation to computer science, IT and software engineering whereas now I know and quite admire the idea.
What’s your best tip for future work experience students coming to Potato?
It might take a second for you to get used to the different environment whether you’re excited or nervous, you’ll adjust eventually and in the end you will see that everyone is lovely and very welcoming here. You will notice that they’re all family here and when you do your 2 weeks of work experience you are instantly included in that family!
Thanks, Yasmin! It was great to work with you.
