I used to be a confused youngster without a sense of purpose in life. Like any rational person does, I started looking into my choices and stumbled upon the institution I have my Bachelors degree from. After the first year, I developed a newfound interest in coding and was eager to join the industry as soon as possible. I began applying for internships as soon as I finished my first year of college. I was lucky enough to get into IFS as an Intern.
So, like any other Intern, I was anxious to get my foot in the door of the industry of my newfound passion, hoping that a few months of hard work would turn me into a tech genius and my resume a pathway to social mobility. I Joined the Extensibility team in R&D of IFS, which investigates the configuration capabilities of IFS applications. The team took time out of their schedules to get to know me as soon as I joined. Everyone was incredibly kind, which I did not anticipate. Over the course of the initial weeks, I received mentoring and guidance. The culture was such that they would put all other work aside to assist me, no matter how busy they were. This proved that the team members were prepared to invest their valuable free time to assist me.
Sometimes when you are a trainee, you can start to lose confidence in your skills after joining a company with a lot of techies. Most of the time, I struggled to understand half of the words spoken in meetings. This, in my opinion, is crucial for an intern since it helps understand that you are not Mr. “Know it all” once you believed you were. It humbles you, makes you aware of how much more there is to learn, and encourages you to explore all these topics you are unfamiliar with. Without being too harsh on yourself, you must understand that all the experienced tech professionals, were once trainees too. Therefore, all we need to do is trust the process and stay curious. Everything else will fall in place with time.
The trust my teammates had in me was what enabled me to overcome this phase of self-doubt. The first key thing I noticed as soon as I joined my team was the fact that they made me feel so valued. Even though I was a Second-year undergraduate at the time, my team trusted me and had faith in me to let me take part in all the major developments at the time and listen to my ideas. This gave me the freedom and the confidence to express my ideas and seek clarification as much as I needed. I participated in all the discussions and meetings and expressed my thoughts without feeling embarrassed. It enhanced my career growth and my ability to take initiative.
Last but not least, the amount of workload that an internship entails is a major cause of concern to most undergraduates. Most undergraduates avoid internships because they believe that the internship will interfere with their academic goals. Fortunately, I had a quite different experience at IFS. I was never placed in a position during the three years of my internship where I had to forgo the time set aside for my education. My Manager was incredibly flexible when my work and other obligations, such as exams or assignments, conflicted. I was always permitted to prioritize my studies and find methods to fit them in.
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