Every term ThoughtWire offers internship opportunities to undergraduate students to gain professional working experience. During our winter internship, from January to April, we were glad to have six students from the University of Waterloo and Seneca College join the TW team. They worked across many different departments ranging from development, product, customer success, and marketing.
We interviewed all of our great interns and will share their stories in two parts. Due to the impact of COVID-19, we also added an extra question for this term's students, getting their perspective on how they have managed to make the transition from working at our Head Office to setting up a workspace from home.
First up is Arushi Mathur, Christopher Tan, and Lucy Cheng on their experience working with the development teams. During the term, Arushi worked on the development of our Smart Hospital applications while Christopher and Lucy worked on our Smart Building applications. Here’s what they said about their experience:
What is/are the top skill(s) you’ve learned while working at ThoughtWire?
Arushi: I spent most of my time at ThoughtWire learning and building my technical skills. I spent a lot of time learning Java and java frameworks like Spring and Micronaut, and also spent a great deal of time learning GraphQL. Aside from technical skills, I also learned how to work in an agile environment!
Christopher: One of the top skills I learned at ThoughtWire is creating applications with the best development practices. With the resources and guidance available from my team, I was able to create useful projects while learning the best practices in the industry.
Lucy: The top skill I've learned is communication skills, especially during a time where we all operate from home and communicate remotely. It also took time to adjust to setting up meetings and calling team members to discuss work problems, instead of talking in person.
What was your favourite part of your job?Arushi: My favourite part about my job at ThoughtWire was that I was constantly being challenged. Each project I worked on was interesting and required a lot of thinking and problem-solving. The team was also very helpful and supportive and was always willing to answer any questions I had!
Christopher: My favourite part of my job was working with different technologies. It was very interesting seeing how everything worked together, and I was constantly learning since I was involved with a lot of them.
Lucy: My favourite part of my job is probably finishing a task and starting a new one. I look forward to what I can learn and the experience I can gain on new tasks.
What was/were your favourite moment(s) from your co-op term?Arushi: Regular Friday co-op lunches were usually the highlight of the week! It gave us a chance to get away from the office for an hour to just talk and catch up after a long week of work.
Christopher: My favourite part of the term was the Friday breakfast with bagels. Every Friday there would be free bagels and other pastries, and it was nice to chat with others and talk about anything.
Lucy: My favourite moment is participating in the company and team events, such as thirsty Thursdays where we enjoy some beverages together, and bagel Fridays where we have bagels from St. Lawrence Market for breakfast.
What advice would you give to future co-op students?Arushi: Be prepared to work hard and learn and ask questions when you need help!
Christopher: Don’t be afraid to ask questions. It is better to be clear on your task, rather than going forward with a vague idea. There is a wide variety of technologies used at ThoughtWire, and they are all connected together, It can be very confusing on how.
Lucy: Some advice I would give to future co-op students, especially software interns, is to ask as many questions as possible in the beginning. It helps you get familiar with the company's software faster and be more productive later on.
What was your experience as an intern during the current situation (COVID-19)?Arushi: Not that different from a regular workday aside from being able to work in the comfort of your own home. Our daily stand-ups go along as usual, and at the end of each day, the team hops on a call just to talk and catch up about their weekends or about the day they just had.
Christopher: Working from home hasn’t been an issue since my whole team is always available and I can ask questions whenever needed. Although it’s a shame I can’t see everyone in person, the daily meetings/catch ups are really helpful.
Lucy: During the COVID outbreak, TW has really created a positive atmosphere for its employees. We are able to stay positive through sharing current updates on the virus, tips to stay healthy, and just generally reinforcing each other in a stressful time.
We were very happy to have Arushi, Christopher, and Lucy work for our development team. We recognize and appreciate all of your hard work. In our next blog post, we will catch up with students that worked in our customer success, marketing, and product teams.
If you are interested in joining our team, please check out our career page.
