The summer internship is a tradition that dates a long way back in RomSoft. Partly due to our long term partnership with technical universities in Iasi, partly due to our commitment to find the best available talent at all times, we’ve managed to run more than a dozen successful internship programs.
Through the years, I gained a lot of insight on the key things that could make or break the experience of your summer internship – which is nothing else than your first real, paying, software developer job.
Here are some key questions I think you should consider before accepting an internship offer:
Will you work in a real project?
RomSoft internships offer paid professional work experience in a safe and structured environment with help from experts. As a RomSoft intern you will acquire hands-on work experience in one of our current projects. This increases our responsibility to help you do great work, and also helps you gain better understanding of how you can put to practice the things you are learning in school.
Will you have a mentor to guide you?
I think it’s important to have a senior colleague guide you through this journey.
Why? When you work on your own, your contribution to the project will be limited to the theoretical skills you acquired in school, or small experience you managed to gather working on individual projects. That is not good enough for you, or us. We need you to hit your full potential as soon as possible, and this is where the mentor steps in.
Will you have access to learning resources?
An important aspect of RomSoft internships is that it offers unlimited access to all kind of learning resources. From books and online courses to in-house trainings, from meetups to one-on-one support. At the same time, a RomSoft internship is a great opportunity to work on your soft skills such as communication, team work and time management.
Is initiative encouraged?
We are a flat hierarchy organization where you can talk to anyone in the company regardless of their title or position. Personal ideas and initiative are fully supported and welcome. If you have an idea for a new project or training subject or think something can be improved in the project you are working on, you will definitely be heard.
Will this be your career rocket or just a tripping rock?
We are serious (and pretty good, too) about helping you speed up your career. If everything works fine during your internship, we will surely make you an offer to stay. If this will be the case, we encourage you to take this opportunity. You will enter an environment that is characterized by continuous learning, knowledge sharing, and developer autonomy. You will have full support (including financial) to obtain professional certifications, improve your technical level and work your way up to becoming a master of your craft.
Last but not least, I have a question for you:
How do you picture your future professional self?
The truth is, you’ll get hired anyway, rather sooner than later. We are lucky to live in a pretty great moment, when the IT area is growing and there are multiple opportunities for everyone. The market is great, the salaries are in the middle-top category and companies compete one another in offering the most creative benefits to employees.
But you are responsible of designing your own strategy for success. Are you going to simply get hired and maintain the good-old “not get fired” level? Or are you in for something more extraordinary than that?