The Declassified Slalom Internship Survival Guide
A good workplace is created by continuous contribution by its members, and every member should try to make it better.
A New Environment
Starting at a new job is always difficult, but when you’re starting your career as well, the prospect can be daunting. When I graduated from college, I didn’t have a great idea of how a typical day goes in the life of a Software Engineer. Upon starting my first internship at Slalom, I found myself in an environment that I had never been in before. I didn’t know anyone well, I didn’t know any of the tech stack I was going to be working on, and I didn’t know how to get help. Over time I was able to figure out many great practices and tips that I believe all people early in their careers, especially interns, can benefit from.
Getting Started
The first week was used for introduction and ramp-up. We learned what tech we would be working on and finally got details on the project, which was an expense reporting application for web and mobile platforms. The web app would be built in Angular 4, the mobile app would be built with Xamarin Forms, and the API was built on .NET Core. I had never used any of these. We had some base code as a starting point. The web app was just a bare starting project, but the API and mobile app were already implemented and we had to expand them to add our new features. The first thing I did was find out all the software I’d need to work and downloaded everything, even if I wouldn’t need it for several weeks. Having the environment completely ready definitely helped my productivity later on. I knew the first week wouldn’t have much in the ways of urgency, so it was the perfect time to prepare for future needs.
Finding Help
Once I started looking at the code we were given, I tried to jump right in and get aquatinted. However, the approach I took was not very efficient. I was experimenting on the code and trying to make things happen without really knowing what my changes actually did. If I were to do it again, I would start by looking at more basic tutorials or talk to someone with experience before jumping into an established codebase. Luckily, I had help from the rest of the practice who were readily available to give us a deeper understanding of the tech. The most invaluable meetings we had were with engineers and architects who held some quick crash courses in the tech when we asked for help.
Working as a Team
I also had to work with a team more closely than other projects I’ve worked on. Building a good relationship with my team was very important for productivity and fast delivery. A simple thing I did to help build good relations was suggesting to go out for lunch most days. We created a good relationship by getting to know each other outside of the office, which translated to much better inner communication once work began. When we got stuck during work, we didn’t have any difficulty talking it out with each other and there was little awkwardness. Our solution owner intern was able to better understand what we needed to succeed and could more efficiently keep us on track. Our QA intern kept an open communication line with the engineers to ensure everyone was aware of any bugs. These factors made work significantly easier and allowed for better productivity.
Working Remotely
One of the most challenging aspects of the internship was that it was spread across different market locations. We had teams in Seattle, Chicago, and Boston, which made communication very difficult. During the first couple weeks, we had a lot of trouble figuring out how to better coordinate. Using HipChat helped a lot, allowing for quick questions to be asked and to reach a wide audience when help was needed. Once we became more accustomed to using HipChat, this communication issue melted away. Suddenly we had 20 – 30 more people we could talk to when we had a roadblock. Getting over that original shyness was a huge step in increasing coordination between our teams.
More Than Just Work
Integrating into Slalom’s culture was also a huge part of what made my experience so positive. I noticed early on that people were always willing to talk to us about basically anything. It was extremely easy to have conversations. There were also many work events which made relationship building even easier. Every Friday we would have happy hours where people would grab a beer and play some games. There were also many clubs which were open to us. For example, I had never played Magic: The Gathering before, but members from the MTG club were very welcoming and taught me how to play. The work related culture was also very appealing to me. I noticed that if someone had expertise in a subject, they were always willing to teach others. There were always conversation on HipChat about new technology and how it could help us as a company. The culture at Slalom gave me confidence that this was a company that promotes progress and employee happiness.
Once you are accustomed, be sure to contribute to the workplace as well. For example, I shared knowledge with other teams about our workflow, contributed to an API design pattern’s development, and helped organize some game nights. A good workplace is created by continuous contribution by its members, and every member should try to make it better.
My Takeaways
When joining a new workplace, getting accustomed can be hard, but hopefully some of these tips will make it easier.
- Be prepared beforehand as much as possible.
- Learn to work in the right way.
- Build a good relationship with your team and the workplace.
- Give back and contribute to your workplace.
Doing so will help you get more out of your work and provide a better starting point for your career.
