DevelopmentNow has recently opened up the internship application process. Internships provide a way for students to find out about how to apply their education in the workplace and which jobs they enjoy most. It can be an intimidating process at first, however the tangible work experience and industry connections gained through an internship are invaluable to someone just starting out or transitioning to a new career. In order to give a glimpse into how internships fit into the company culture at DevelopmentNow, we’ve asked three employees to comment on how their internship experiences influenced their work today.
1. Collaboration will be an integral part of your internship. Projects at DevelopmentNow are team efforts. Collaboration lives at the heart of each project, from idea generation, to code architecture, to programming. We overcome roadblocks by coordinating our efforts, maintaining open lines of communication, and keeping a second pair of eyes at the ready. Asking for code reviews from multiple people can help you overcome bugs and will ensure that you are following best practices. Drawing from multiple perspectives allows us to harness the entire skillset available at DevelopmentNow, which in turn leads us to develop innovative, thoughtful solutions to challenging problems.
2. You may learn as much about project management as you do about coding. DevelopmentNow uses the Agile approach to software development, wherein the team works to accomplish goals every two weeks and releases new product versions iteratively. These two week periods are called sprints. At the end of each sprint, the team reviews their work, addresses concerns, and establishes goals for the next sprint. Keeping the focus on short term tasks and frequently regrouping to assess progress prevents the scope of tasks from growing too wide and promotes team cohesiveness. The Agile approach also gives clients the flexibility to shift the goals of a project as needed.
3. Expect to use the latest technologies and methodologies at DevelopmentNow. We pride ourselves on using the best tools available to us. Whether we’re managing a project using JIRA, creating websites with React, or sharing gifs on Slack, we make sure to take the most effective approach. As an intern, you’ll benefit by learning skills that will remain relevant for years to come. Check out the description of our process and some of our past work to see how we use the tools available to us.
4. Your desire to learn and challenge yourself can be more important than the hard skills you bring into the internship. Regardless of what you end up working on during your internship at DevelopmentNow, you are likely to encounter unforeseen challenges that will require you to learn new approaches and seek out the help of team members. Daryl Seaver and Yelena Belikova, for example, were in the middle of their project when one of their main APIs became unavailable for a week. In order to get their app back up and running, they built a database to pull from during instances of a down API. While they had learned about SQL and APIs at Epicodus, putting their skills to the test during a crisis allowed them valuable insight into the trials of software development.
5. As an intern at DevNow, you will play an impactful role. DevelopmentNow provides interns with both freedom and support that they may not find elsewhere. You will have a mentor to help guide you through your project, however decisions for how to design, develop, and test your product will lie with you and your team. In this you’re exposed to the workflow employees follow at DevelopmentNow, including Agile planning, user experience design, quality assurance, and product release.
