Empowering Change: My experience as a DevOps Intern at GovTech
Hey there! I’m Daniel, an incoming NUS student. While waiting for matriculation, I embarked on a DevOps internship with the Whole-of-Government-Application-Analytics (WOGAA) team for 9 months.
As a DevOps intern, my main gig is in architecting and designing cloud solutions, developing Infrastructure-as-Code and whipping up Continuous Integration and Delivery (CI/CD) pipelines to empower end-to-end software delivery for our core projects.
What It’s Like to Intern at GovTech?
You might think: “Are you crazy to start a 9-month internship right after National Service? How will you find time for holidays? Won’t you be so burnt out even before university starts?”
Throughout my GovTech internship, I never felt like I was sacrificing my holidays or personal interests. Each day brought fun new challenges as we continuously developed new products and innovations. My coworkers were incredibly understanding, and together we planned our sprint tasks around each other’s schedules and learning goals. We also attended numerous DevOps summits and events, which played a significant role in further fueling my interest in this niche domain.
One of the most unique aspects about internships with GovTech was getting the chance to help out in the hosting of events! During my time with WOGAA, we had the opportunity to host the annual Digital Services Award as well as the Agency Champions of WOGAA launch event. These events not only provided a refreshing change from our usual work routine but also gave me a firsthand look at how GovTech drives change in the Whole of Government!
Empowered to Make Change 🍃
In our team, we have a culture of “no meeting and standup” Fridays, where we are encouraged to research and explore new technologies and emerging paradigms in the tech world. Mondays were then reserved for Dev Syncs, where we gathered to discuss our findings and insights. These sessions were catalysts for innovation, often leading to new improvements to our tech stack and operational efficiency.
My internship at GovTech was characterised by a remarkable level of trust! I was entrusted with numerous critical sprint tasks that involved designing core infrastructure, as well as improvements to our network and security infrastructure. I also often find myself leading the deployment of key features for our core products to the live environment, collaborating closely with team members throughout the process.
I was also given the autonomy to pursue my own initiatives and learning goals! I would often develop proof of concepts (POCs) and showcase them during our mid-sprint reviews. One of my proudest initiatives was creating a ChatOps platform that enabled us to perform critical operational tasks through the Slack messaging platform from anywhere, greatly enhancing our automation capabilities.
However, what truly stood out was the team’s growth-oriented culture! The team was incredibly open and receptive to my suggestions, even when my solutions involved significant mindset shifts. This was particularly evident when I implemented a Cloud Vulnerability Assessment tool across all our environments. Despite the increased workload, my team members were highly supportive in integrating the tool into our current workflow and readily embraced a culture of “security in multiple layers”.
More than work, more than coworkers
In GovTech, we don’t see our coworkers just as teammates; we are a family outside of work. The WOGAA team shares a strong enthusiasm for socialising even outside of work. Despite the work-from-home culture, we frequently organised after-work gatherings on Wednesdays, where we connected over life’s happenings. We would also come together to celebrate significant life events like housewarmings and farewall parties! I truly find a safe space here where I can share and seek advice about everything from personal experiences to professional challenges.
What truly completed my internship experience was the intern engagement events which provided an opportunity to network with fellow interns from different teams! I was also part of the Intern Experience Committee that contributes to planning and executing upcoming intern events. Some of the most memorable events included Collab-X, an annual hackathon where we brainstormed for innovative solutions for Singapore residents, and Intern Day, a celebration of the amazing achievements of our interns. I’m really happy to have made so many friends along the way!
Finally, here are some pieces of advice for prospective interns: Keep your resume concise to help HR quickly assess your qualifications. Focus on building relationships with your colleagues rather than solely concentrating on the work itself; you’ll learn much more this way.
If you are looking for an internship experience where you will get to learn and grow in a fun, respectful and supportive environment, do apply for an internship with us! Find out more about the internship programme at go.gov.sg/govtechinternship.
