Q&A with Karolina on her internship at Kiwee
Ksenia PimenovaReading Time: 3 minutes
The internship season is over & here at Kiwee we were happy to host great interns this summer and autumn. Karolina answered 8 questions about her experience as an Intern Full Stack Developer at Kiwee, check out her answers!
1. Quick intro? 🙂
Hey, my name is Karolina. I'm 22 and I'm a Computer Science Student at the Wrocław University of Science and Technology.
2. Why did you choose Kiwee for your internship?
The first thing that attracted me to Kiwee was their cool graphics and the smiling people at their company's stand at my University career fair. Right after talking to Anna Sawicka, the CEO, I knew Kiwee was a good place for me. They care about you, they want you to learn and improve yourself, and they want you to succeed. Prior to this internship, I did not yet have any significant experience in web development but decided that it's something I really wanted to do and Kiwee gave me the chance to try. Another plus for me is that they are a small company so everyone knows each other, supports each other and is very eager to help. That’s a great environment to start gaining professional experience. I could go on and on about what attracts me in Kiwee, but I will just add that they love animals and their office is animal-friendly. And that's really cool for me, our 'office dogs' bring so much joy to the daily work 🙂
3. What was your work scope and set of tasks?
My very first task was to learn about agile methodology. The first week hasn't passed and I was already taking part in exciting brainstorming workshops and card sorting for developing a new application for a real client. After setting my internship goals with CEO, I started doing an online PHP course. Then, I joined a big project and worked on dynamic interfaces wireframes for this new app. Meanwhile, I was studying Angular. I got to learn a lot, worked with wireframes creation and got a chance to be a part of a real project -- so, yeah, each day was a new exciting challenge for me.
4. What’s one thing you did not expect to see in Kiwee that positively surprised you?
I definitely did not expect that I would become a part of a real project so fast and that I would have a say in how the final application would look like & how it would work. That really made me feel important and appreciated. Another great thing was that I could work remotely if needed as well as that I could learn so much and do it at my own pace. The last but not least, I knew that people in Kiwee are friendly but I did not expect THAT much support and such a great atmosphere in the office. We even had our 'work family' lunches together in the garden. I just felt really good and simply wanted to be there.
5. What was the biggest challenge you had to tackle during the internship?
The hardest for me was to learn how to estimate my tasks, in particular, how not to underestimate them and how to understand that it's okay to ask for more time to accomplish a task, which people would be totally understanding of. I learned how important is it to communicate if you have an issue or you are not fully sure how to do something. It is not as easy as it sounds 😉
6. What are the biggest learnings you have after this experience?
I learned not only about IT-related things, but also gained plenty of life tips. I got to observe the process of a new application creation from the very beginning, I learned how Agile methodology works, how often business requirements can change if the product is complicated and how important good communication is.
7. A LOL moment you will never forget? 🙂
We had many laughs. For example, once I cried with laughter while trying to explain to my colleagues what ‘bubble tea’ is. Another time we couldn't stop laughing while sharing our childhood memories. We had many funny moments and stories during small talks and our meals together. I will never forget them.
8. What would you say to future Kiwee’s interns?
I would say that they made a good decision and they will not regret coming here. Learn as much as you can cause you will be surrounded by great people and experienced developers. An internship here will probably be a great adventure for you.
