I interned at ShopBack. Here’s how it went!
How it all began
There were two main reasons I applied for a Software Engineering internship at ShopBack.
- First of all, I wanted to get some hands-on experience to see how the knowledge I learned in school can be applied to real-world work. Internships are great for that — they provide valuable practical opportunities, giving me a chance to really understand how the industry works, and at the same time enabling me to boost my professional skills.
- Secondly, ShopBack is a platform that I have used before, and I was deeply impressed with its service and user experience. I was excited about the idea of joining an international company like ShopBack, to be able to learn from their success, and most importantly, being able to contribute to it.
A Core Focus during the Internship
During my internship at ShopBack, I was mainly responsible for the internal system automation project. For context, the QA team has been focusing on the development of automation projects to enable ShopBackers to work faster and better, with lesser manual work required, and the system automation project was one of the core To-Dos.
Previously, a ShopBacker already had a framework written down, but due to the advancement of technology, we had hoped to change the entire framework and begin to use page object development. In this project, in addition to writing programs and development, part of my job scope included writing proposals, setting development milestones, and assigning work to other interns.
This was the first time I was responsible for project development, so when I was writing the proposal, I didn’t quite understand how to have a complete plan, including how to describe the user story, how to plan the development progress, and how to set milestones. It was initially quite a challenge as I was worried that I would not be able to ensure everything was clear and concise for the team.
I started to put myself in the shoes of the end-user ShopBacker to understand what would be the ideal user journey for them, before translating this to actual requirements needed from fellow teammates. The important part was also proceeding to prioritize what needed to be worked on immediately (P0-P1). After several rounds of feedback with my manager, I’m proud to be able to show you some bits and pieces of the current internal system automation proposal below.
Current internal system automation proposal
With the optimisation of the internal system automation framework, the process of writing test cases is also now smoother for other ShopBackers.
The development of automation projects was always mainly the responsibility of a full-time ShopBacker previously, hence having the opportunity to be responsible for supporting this development was something I greatly appreciated!
The Importance of a Good Manager
During the entire internship process, my manager gave us a lot of support and guidance. From the initial manual testing, I always encountered many problems, but after seeking for advice, the problem always seemed much easier. Afterwards, I started project development, and my mentor also gave me a lot of development-related information. Suggestions such as : project proposals that could be used as references, how to set project milestones, etc.
In addition to project-specific guidance, my mentor also offered invaluable insights into Software Engineering, giving me a clearer picture of the current state of the software industry. They helped me identify the key skills I should focus on developing to pursue a successful career as a Software Engineer in the future.
Overall Experience at ShopBack
My time at ShopBack has been a game-changer for my career. The internship gave me practical project management skills, boosted my technical know-how, and offered great industry insights. This experience has solidified my desire to pursue a career in software engineering, and I now feel more confident and ready to tackle future challenges in this field.
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