Each term, ThoughtWire has the honour of welcoming a new group of interns. This winter, we welcomed six students from the University of Waterloo and one from Seneca College.
As we strive to ensure our interns gain knowledge and skills that can transfer as they continue their career development, we also take this time as an opportunity for growth, leadership development, and mentorship for both interns and employees.
These young professionals and their work throughout the term benefit not only their prospective teams but also the entire ThoughtWire Corporation. Allow us to introduce our fellow interns featured in our Winter 2022 Intern Experience series:
Iman Umair-Qaiser — Data Analyst Intern, Product Management
Aniq Premji – Product Analyst Intern, Product Management
Eric McDace – Customer Success Intern, Customer Success
Emily Synnott – Marketing Assistant Intern, Marketing
Adries Shahbaz – Software Engineer Intern, Engineering
Barry Wang – Software Engineer Intern, Engineering
Daniel Le – Software Engineer Intern, Engineering
What are the top skills you’ve gained while working at ThoughtWire?
Iman: I've learned a great deal about data analysis and database management, technical writing and documentation, and effective communication during my time at ThoughtWire.
Aniq: I would say the top skills I've gained during my time at ThoughtWire are data visualization, critical thinking, and learning how to coordinate work between teams. In product, these are key skills for problem-solving and effective communication, and shadowing more experienced co-workers and seeing how they worked helped me develop these skills.
Eric: The top skill I've gained at ThoughtWire is leveraging an internal knowledge base to solve problems. In customer success, many issues that arise have been dealt with before. Knowing how to search for the answers to questions can be the difference between a quick fix and one that takes days.
Emily: Some of the top skills I have gained while working at ThoughtWire include strong time management, problem-solving, critical thinking, and communication skills. While working on multiple projects across different teams, I developed a strong understanding of how important communication is, especially while working online, so that other team members and I can complete project deadlines on time. In a busy environment, I was able to use problem-solving and critical thinking skills to advance projects and work independently.
Adries: During my time at ThoughtWire, the top skills I have learned would be the sharpening of my Java skills and the ability to learn new concepts quickly. Since most of the projects I worked on throughout this term involved programming in Java, my ability to utilize the language has developed, which will allow me to use the language to its maximum potential going forward. Additionally, this term, I worked on many projects that I was unsure of how to complete; this required me to quickly learn the skills necessary to finish the assigned task.
Barry: Problem-solving skills are what I have learned most at ThoughtWire. I have learned to break big goals into small parts and solve them one by one.
Daniel: ThoughtWire gave me the chance to develop my critical thinking skills by giving me a variety of tasks to work on, each requiring its own set of technical skills. My ability to analyze the situation was very important for completing the tasks.
What advice would you give to a future co-op student?
Iman: Don't be afraid to ask questions, and take notes to help remember important information and keep track of your work.
Aniq: I think a helpful bit of advice is to talk to as many people in the company as possible. Everyone has a different background, so there is a lot to learn—and most people are very friendly and willing to share their experiences. Speaking to different people also helped me get up to speed with the company's product faster and taught me interesting things about the tech space.
Eric: I would advise future co-op students to ask for tasks to take on. During our weekly meetings, I often heard about projects that interested me. I was always quick to ask my manager if I could be put on those tasks, which led to a more interesting and educational learning experience.
Emily: I would tell future co-op students to be willing to try new things. There are many projects to participate in that may be outside of your job description but are great opportunities for trying something new, advancing your skills, and exploring the different areas of work within the company.
Adries: The advice I would give to a future co-op student working at ThoughtWire would be to try and get involved with as many projects as you can during your internship. ThoughtWire gives its co-op students great opportunities to learn new things, so being able to work on as many projects as possible will allow the student to get the most out of their internship.
Barry: I would suggest future co-op students be more willing to participate and not be afraid to ask questions when needed.
Daniel: Do not be afraid to ask people for help; someone will be able to point you in the right direction.
What part of your position did you enjoy the most?
Iman: I enjoyed attending workshops and creating Power BI dashboards for data visualization.
Aniq: I really enjoyed the data analysis part of my role. I worked on a project where we used different data visualizations and models to gain insights about our customers, and I found it super interesting and informative. Trying out different approaches until we got it right was also a very rewarding process. I'm hoping to use the data skills I've learned in future projects and positions.
Eric: I enjoyed working with the people the most. The entire customer success team is very friendly and willing to give advice and help when needed.
Emily: The part of my position that I enjoyed the most was attending branding workshops, where I was able to participate in brand development. Within these workshops, I was able to get a strong understanding of how marketing applies to all aspects of the business.
Adries: The part of being a software engineering intern that I enjoyed the most was the exposure to various technologies that ThoughtWire uses. For example, before working at ThoughtWire, I had no idea what the RDF triple language Turtle was. But having worked with a few projects that used Turtle files, I became accustomed to the coding language.
Barry: I enjoyed story picking and completing the process for every sprint. As a team, we plan the story at the beginning of each sprint, which includes adding features such as difficulty and priority. We pick up the story and complete them before every sprint period. The whole process leaves me very satisfied with completing each story.
Daniel: I enjoyed developing code on the tech stack here at ThoughtWire. I was able to learn and use many different technologies, which gave me a lot of knowledge to carry on in the future.
What were your favourite moments from the term?
Iman: For one of the projects I worked on, where we had to analyze survey data from one of our clients, I hit a roadblock. So, I started manually analyzing the survey data and creating a reference document that outlined all of the differences I saw between the different filters that could be applied to the data to determine which were key drivers evaluating the dataset. That document ended up being a helpful asset to the rest of the team for that project, so I was glad I was able to contribute in that respect. I also enjoyed just talking and getting to know my team members and learning more about their respective career paths—since no two careers are the exact same.
Aniq: My favourite moments from the term include meeting a bunch of interesting people whom I was able to learn lots from, as well as getting to participate in ThoughtWire's employee appreciation day where they gave each of us a $30 Uber Eats voucher for lunch (Popeyes was so good :D). I think both of those moments attest to the company's great culture!
Eric: My favourite moments were during the customer success weekly meetings. During these meetings, I gained an understanding of how things were progressing at ThoughtWire, and I got the opportunity to get to know the team. ThoughtWire really lets every individual play to their strengths and work collaboratively with people.
Emily: My favourite moments include working with other co-op students on a project, having the responsibility of a long-term project, and achieving our goals each week. The development of this project over time was very rewarding.
Barry: I have enjoyed the moments when the team finishes the sprint and arranges it; it feels like everything is well-planned.
Daniel: Being able to link with people frequently even though the term was online.
Adries: One of my favourite moments from the term was presenting the Hello World project to the different members of ThoughtWire. Being able to develop something by myself and showing off my hard work in front of the members of ThoughtWire felt satisfying and made me feel a sense of accomplishment. Another favourite moment from this term was all of the times I was working with other team members. They would guide me through the problems I had, and I would usually walk away from the interaction having learned something new.
Thank you to all our wonderful interns for their hard work and contributions to ThoughtWire during the term! ThoughtWire strives to create an environment for interns to develop and grow while making meaningful contributions to their team. If you are interested in working at ThoughtWire, we encourage you to apply!
Visit ThoughtWire’s career page for more information at https://www.thoughtwire.com/about-thoughtwire/careers/.