How to Make The Most of Your (Tech) Internship

Researching for this blog post I came across plenty articles with advice that was so very clearly from someone who hasn’t done an internship in the past 10+ years. I don’t want this blog to be antiquated tips on ‘sucking up’ and making good coffee. As I finish up my internship here at Liberty IT, I want to reflect on what went well and what could have been better. What did I do successfully and what did I learn from my failures? What advice could have put me in good stead at beginning of my internship? Well, dear reader, here it is. 

Try, fail and try again

I recently saw a story where a ceramics teacher split his students into two groups, group A would be graded on quantity and group B quality. That is, group A should create as many pots as possible and group B could create only 1, of the highest quality possible. In the end, group A ended up creating the highest quality pieces because while group B theorised about what the perfect pot was, group A tried, failed and tried again — over and over. It’s a lesson that applies across industries: practice makes perfect. You most likely won’t start your internship with an in-depth (or any) knowledge of what you’re working on and that’s completely normal. This is your time to learn about a career or industry you’re interested, so take your time to understand things and learn.

Pairing

If you’re interning in the tech/software industry you may already be aware of pairing. The definition of pair programming:

Pair programming is an agile software development technique in which two programmers work together at one workstation. One, the driver, writes code while the other, the observer or navigator, reviews each line of code as it is typed in. The two programmers switch roles frequently. — Wikipedia

It’s the norm in my team to pair everyday, with a different person each week. If that’s not the case where you are doing your internship, discuss it with your team and let them know if it would help you get up-to-speed. Pairing means that there’s someone, usually more experienced, to ask lots of questions through updating or creating a project. Don’t just sit back while a more experienced team member ‘drives’, your input is valid and helpful. Your comments and questions will lead to you and your pair understanding the project better, and having more confidence when speaking at a [code] review or releasing it.

Imposter Syndrome

You may or may not have heard of imposter syndrome. I think it’s worth mentioning because pretty much everyone has it at some point and an internship is a likely time it will crop up, perhaps for the first time. 

Imposter syndrome can be defined as a collection of feelings of inadequacy that persist despite evident success. ‘Imposters’ suffer from chronic self-doubt and a sense of intellectual fraudulence that override any feelings of success or external proof of their competence. — Harvard Business Review

The best advice I can give is: don’t let it hold you back. My imposter syndrome came in ebbs and flows, when I first started my internship the amount to learn felt overwhelming and even as I get better at times I felt like it wasn’t enough, or fast enough. The extra unnecessary strain you’re putting on yourself will ultimately only hold you back — so just let it go! You were hired because you impressed your interviewers, aced an assessment day and/or passed a code test. You deserve to be there.

Ask all of the questions!

An internship should be a time of learning, there will be plenty of work university/college didn’t prepare you for and company specific things you could never know without working there. Don’t let what you don’t know put you off! Ask as many questions as you need, everyone was in your position at least once before. I did see a piece of advice which said to look for an answer first by yourself, which is fine, but when you don’t know where to look that can be difficult.

Keep a notebook

I found keeping notes extremely useful even to remember what I was working on week-to-week, or going to a part of my team’s project that I hadn’t worked on in a while. Make a note of things like: what story/ticket you’re working on, the ‘gotchas’, what you plan look at next and anything you think would be useful to know coming back to it. These notes can also be extremely helpful for handovers and demos, or when whoever works that piece after you has questions.

Another important thing to make note of is your achievements. It may be small things at first, but they will incrementally get bigger. Note positive feedback from customers, managers and team on your work. It means you have a log of things you did well that you can review before you next interview, and will help you fight that pesky imposter syndrome!

Find a buddy

Some companies assign a ‘buddy’ to you when you start, to get you set up and ready to start working. If that’s not the case where you are, lean on the people on your team for a while. If you’re worried, warn them “I’m going to ask you a lot of questions at the start but once I know, I know!” — they’ll understand. Make a note of the things you had to find out for the next person that joins the team. The type of work changes from team to team and department to department.

Find a mentor

A mentor differs to a buddy, to me, in that a mentor provides teaching, advice and opportunity whereas a buddy will give help for specific tasks short term. If your company has a mentor programme open to you — take advantage of it! Having someone to give honest, clear advice is invaluable. 

Ask for feedback

Receiving and responding to feedback is really valuable way to learn and improve yourself and your work. Ask you manager and team for feedback regularly — the faster you get feedback, the sooner you can improve and remedy mistakes you made. This also feeds into ‘Try, fail, try again’, feedback helps you learn from your mistakes and may provide suggestions on what you could do differently next time.

Take every opportunity open to you

Take part in training

Whether it’s in-house, online or external, training courses can be a great way to sharpen your skills. See what training is available to you through your company, whether it be a Pluralsight license or facilitators giving classes/workshops, it’s another opportunity to gain valuable skills.

Get involved in groups and initiatives

Many companies have groups and committees that you can get involved with, such as a Women In Tech or STEM group, or social committee. During my first 6 months at Liberty IT I volunteered for events organised by the WiT/STEM groups but had no idea who they were. After finding out, I joined both to get more involved and provided that feedback to them. Since then, it has become part of orientation to tell new starts about the groups available to volunteer for, join and how to reach them. 

Ask ‘what can I bring?’

If your company doesn’t have any groups like the above, why not start one? Companies are more often than not willing to support you, all it takes is someone with a little initiative. Another bonus through organising something like this, you will likely get to know lots of other people within your company with similar interests and lots of ideas. 

Maybe there’s something external you have interest in organising, why not see if your company host/sponsor it? During my internship, I organised two beginner’s web development courses for charity Code First: Girls at Liberty IT. I started out by asking my manager some questions, she was extremely helpful, she sent me the resources I needed to get started and put me in contact with people I needed to know (i.e. a great manager and mentor).

Take part in challenges, hackathons, conferences, everything!

The tech industry is great for opportunities like this. We have lots of challenges, hackathons, conferences, meetups, tech talks and companies are encouraging employees to attend, participate and speak at them. All these not only build the company’s brand by having you there but also build your CV/portfolio, and are a great learning and networking opportunity too! 

If you see a conference that’s relevant to your work, ask your manager if your company will buy your ticket to attend. During my placement I got the opportunity to attend the Women In Tech Belfast conference, which was really informative and inspiring. If you have a topic you’d like to talk about, practice at a tech talk or meetup and get some feedback, and/or put in your proposal and see how it goes. Earlier this Summer I gave a talk to 100+ people at internal conference at Liberty IT, I was asked to speak because of my involvement in the groups outlined above, so I went for it and I’m really glad I did.

Through doing some/all of these you will make connections with talented people at all levels, above and below your own. Networks are extremely valuable, through a network you will have access to information spanning difference levels and job roles. Don’t fear creating a connection to people above your grade — they’re just people too. 

Keep it professional

It seems like an obvious one, but I’ve met enough unprofessional interns to know it’s worth a mention. Tech companies have increasingly casual dress codes and office spaces, which creates a great, relaxed environment for work; just don’t forget about the work part. You are not in college/university — you are being paid to deliver value for the business. Behave in a way that means your teams/manager/colleagues remember you positively and want you to come back.

Conclusion

I believe by following these tips and working hard, you will have a really successful internship, create great industry connections and learn a lot along the way. Just don’t forget to have fun too!

Also posted on Medium