This summer we’ve had the pleasure to hold the annual edition of the SABS Internship. Gabriel T, Gabriel M, Magda R, Alex B and Alex P were the protagonists of this edition, together with their mentors. After this unique experience, we all ended up with amazing memories and new colleagues who decided to continue the SABS adventure.
Our interns had to develop an internal application, with multiple functionalities. The focus was on involving them in as many aspects of building an application as possible, to allow them to discover what they enjoyed most and the things that needed improvement.
We recently interviewed our interns to hear more about their experience and here’s what they had to say!
#1 Interview with Gabriel M
Q: Reflecting on your projects and tasks during the internship, what achievements are you most proud of? How did these accomplishments contribute to the overall success of the team or project you were involved in?
A – Gabriel: The biggest accomplishment is that I learnt automation testing and the project itself offered the best opportunity to learn and develop in that direction. Also, the under-pressure experience is totally different when you are actually part of a project.
Q: How would you describe the mentorship and guidance you received from our team members and supervisors?
A – Gabriel: That was a big part of this experience and why everything seemed easy even though it wasn’t. When asked “can we actually do it?” I remember one of the mentors reply: “we’ll find a way”.
Q: As you look back on your internship, how would you describe the level of responsibility and autonomy you were given? Can you provide examples of projects or tasks where you had the opportunity to take the lead or demonstrate independent problem-solving?
A – Gabriel: Every single one of us had responsibility and also the ability to demonstrate their knowledge. We were encouraged every step of the way to step up and be proud of our work and vocalize it whenever given the opportunity.
Q: Can you share specific instances where you were able to contribute fresh ideas or solutions to challenges, and how these contributions were received by the team?
A – Gabriel: I can’t point out a specific moment, however, what I can say is that the mentors always told us every single idea that we have we should actually come forth with it, because you never know when it might actually be a great idea. We were encouraged to express even bad ideas, as all is part of the learning curve.
Q: Continuous learning is a key aspect of a successful career in technology. What opportunities did the internship provide for you to learn new technologies, tools, or methodologies, and how did these experiences contribute to your skill set?
A – Gabriel: Since I became part of the SABS family, I’ve managed to learn things and put them in practice. To be totally honest I’m still learning and the mentors and team itself support my learning curve to this day.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you believe the skills and experiences gained during your internship will benefit you in your future career? Are there specific lessons or takeaways that you believe will be particularly valuable as you progress in the field of software development?
A – Gabriel: Definitely, there still is and will continue to be a lot to learn. What this internship showed me is that, as long as you want to, you can learn, with the support of a good team.
#2 Interview with Alexandru P
Q: Reflecting on your projects and tasks during the internship, what achievements are you most proud of? How did these accomplishments contribute to the overall success of the team or project you were involved in?
A – Alexandru: During the internship, I achieved a high level of understanding of the agile methodology, while being a Scrum Master. In addition to this, I updated my knowledge of Cypress automated testing while developing automation tests for the implemented features.
Q: How would you describe the mentorship and guidance you received from our team members and supervisors?
A – Alexandru: The whole team was supportive and friendly.
Q: As you look back on your internship, how would you describe the level of responsibility and autonomy you were given? Can you provide examples of projects or tasks where you had the opportunity to take the lead or demonstrate independent problem-solving?
A – Alexandru: The whole internship program was developed in such a manner that it gave us, the interns, as much autonomy and responsibility as possible while being backed up by our mentors whenever we needed guidance.
Q: Can you share specific instances where you were able to contribute fresh ideas or solutions to challenges, and how these contributions were received by the team?
A – Alexandru: I Implemented different automated testing functions that were used by the whole QA team in the testing process.
Q: Continuous learning is a key aspect of a successful career in technology. What opportunities did the internship provide for you to learn new technologies, tools, or methodologies, and how did these experiences contribute to your skill set?
A – Alexandru: Since I did a professional reconversion, moving from the medical field, the learning opportunities were varied – from Agile Scrum methodology to C# and Cypress automation testing, going through Java with Selenium for automation testing, and Using GIT to develop new branches and collaborate with my colleagues.
Q: Looking ahead, how do you believe the skills and experiences gained during your internship will benefit you in your future career? Are there specific lessons or takeaways that you believe will be particularly valuable as you progress in the field of software development?
A – Alexandru: Gaining so many new skills (such as applying the iterative way of working through Agile methodology or working in the automation field through Cypress) on top of the already developed ones, helped me build a strong and robust understanding of the development business area.