Considering our successful experiences hosting internship programs in Galway with students joining SmartBear from National University of Ireland Galway (NUIG), Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT) and University of Limerick (UL), we were looking forward to kicking off the summer internship programs once again.
Last week, we were greeted by four students who study at NUIG and GMIT, to join our development team for a summer internship. Over the course of the next 3 months, Krisztian, Niamh, Bartlomiej and Tara will work with the Swagger Development teams in Galway as they broaden their experience in development processes, testing and software engineering.
Here is a recap of their first week, interning at SmartBear;
Tara O’Kelly; Lectures to Sprint Planning
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After finishing four years of a course in Software Development at Galway-Mayo Institute of Technology, starting this internship at SmartBear has already given me a lot of exposure to working in a proficient development team.
Something you might learn about in college but would not fully appreciate until experiencing it, or furthermore, you may not get a chance to experience it in a less-established company.
From day one of starting here at SmartBear, we have been included in all meetings; from daily stand-ups to sprint planning. Getting settled in was not difficult; everyone is willing to help and there are plenty of documentation and resources to get people started. Beyond working in SmartBear’s development environment, the modern technologies are also very impressive. I’m looking forward to working with them throughout the internship and continuing to learn!”.
Krisztian Nagy: From learning about SwaggerHub to being part of its Development Team!
“My name is Krisz. I came to SmartBear from Galway Mayo Institute of Technology (GMIT), where I studied software development in third year. The course entailed various programming languages like Java, C, GO, C# and TypeScript as well algorithms, databases, software quality management and software testing. My studies can be perfectly applied to my internship here at SmartBear as currently we are doing software testing with Hiptest and later we are going to be moved around to each department where we can use our programming knowledge too. The benefit of being in each department is to learn a bit about everything that’s involved in creating great software like SwaggerHub, which they would teach in college.
The SmartBear office in Galway is the perfect place to be an intern. It is in a great location right in the city center, conveniently close to literally everything (shops, bus etc.) and the people who work here are extremely friendly. Everyone makes us feel welcome and keen to helps us with anything we need. I am looking forward to my internship here”.
Niamh Gilligan: Going from Teacher to Tech
“When I first told friends and family about my thoughts of changing my career path as a primary school teacher to pursue something alien to me in the tech industry, I was met with disbelief. Most people thought it was unbelievable that I would give up the long holidays and short working hours for a 9 to 5.
I heard about a Software development and design course at NUIG and it really appealed to me. So, I decided to send in an application and after an intense interview with such questions as ‘How would you figure out how many tennis balls fit in a mini cooper?’ I got in. I was extremely excited to start learning about different software languages and frameworks and what you could create from them such as Java, HTML, CSS, JavaScript and React. From teaching I went into working 9am-1pm and then went to college till late in the evenings. This didn’t bother me much at all because I was really enjoying what I was learning in college. For my Final year project, I made a single page web application using the MERN stack and got help from experienced front end developers at SmartBear. I chose to use react in my project because it was going to be a framework that I would encounter during my internship.
I heard so many great things about SmartBear in the lead up to my internship and I wasn’t sure what to expect. My initial impressions have surpassed my expectations. Everyone is extremely friendly, welcoming and happy to answer all our questions. One of the main reasons I wanted to do an internship at SmartBear was the opportunity to work with and learn from very experienced developers and get a feel for what it is like to work in the industry. I am looking forward to working on both front-end and back-end development throughout my time at SmartBear and excited to work on SwaggerHub.
One of the great benefits of working for SmartBear in Galway is its central location. Before working at SmartBear I worked quite far from the city and had no choice but to drive. Now, I can cycle to work although as the weather gets colder I may be tempted to revert back to driving!”.
Bartlomiej Zaucha: Communication and Collaboration with the SmartBear Crew
“Although I was expecting a huge change when I finished NUI Galway, spending a week with SmartBear really showed me the difference between workplace environment and a typical day in college. One of main aspects is the communication and collaboration which is like night and day. In SmartBear everyone is connected, allowing for quick exchange of information. In contrast getting in touch with fellow students or lectures was a nightmare at times. Also having a set schedule allows to get into the rhythm of things and allows you to perform at your best which is something that rarely happened in college.
From the moment I've stepped into the building there was someone here to guide me and to quickly integrate into SmartBear community. I found the On-Prem team I was assigned to very helpful as they really want what’s best for me to learn and improve. They did their best to help me find my feet which was amazing and I can’t thank them enough. Overall as it stands I couldn’t be happier with my experiences so far and can’t wait for what’s to come.”
We are looking forward to the next few months with our interns as they work on some interesting projects involving exciting products such as SwaggerHub and Hiptest – stay tuned for a further update form our interns!