Technology is growing faster worldwide than any other industry. More and more children, teenagers, and young adults in particular are becoming interested in this field. Most of them are skilled enough to use their smartphone or computer to play another round of their favorite game while sitting cluelessly in class and wondering: “How can I learn these things?”.
Well, the answer is right in front of you. Start by attending a school or university that teaches programming and the theory of the various areas of computer science. That is how my journey into programming actually began.
At the beginning, it was a new school, new people, and a new environment. After class, I got involved in many different projects to improve my skills, which ultimately was also a lot of fun. We had to develop many smaller things, but in the end the projects worked. That is not meant to diminish or dismiss our work, of course, but it was all part of the learning curve over the 5 years in which I completed the program.
During those years, no real practical experience was gained; there were only a few small projects you were involved in, there was nothing you could proudly show your parents, and there was no real understanding of what it is like to work in a team of several programmers. In short, it was not a positive experience for me, and I did not want to continue doing it. Especially because the other subjects at school were not remotely interesting to me.
So I had to look for something else, and that is how I found out that I could do an internship as a software developer. My search began and, with a bit of luck, I ended up at STRG via an email. I have been a member of the STRG team since 2017, and I have never looked back or regretted leaving school to join the company.
The feeling I have is very different from the one I had at school. In my first months here, I had to do some support work, but I also helped fix bugs and develop smaller features. Tasks like these only grow over time, and after a year the first features appear on your personal to-do list.
As an intern, you gain so much more experience, even if most of the work consists of “correcting” the typo in this title. You have the feeling of owning something and carrying responsibility, which you will never have at school.
When you pass a test in class, you get a plus point for your work. That is great. When you develop for a real application, other people can see it, and it is a feature you can show your friends or your family. It is tangible. It is a great feeling when you can show others what you have done, and yes, you can also show them your top grade in the exam, but ask yourself what looks better: a big letter or a cool and useful feature. Think about it.
Working at STRG is really good. All interns are assigned to different teams. Each team is responsible for a different part of the company, and it is not as if the interns have to do the “dirty work”. We are an active part of the development of services and maintenance.
As an additional bonus, I mostly work on tasks that are tailored to me. That is the small part of the line where I can be productive while learning new things for the future in the meantime. Also when I need help with a specific problem. Most of the time, I can ask another team member to help me with my problem.
What is also fun is that we can socialize after work. From time to time, some of us go to developer events such as Vue.js Vienna. We also have events within our own four walls, such as playing Magic: The Gathering or Minecraft on our server, which was set up by someone from our team! I really enjoy events like these because they are a good opportunity to talk and perhaps learn something new.
Finally, I have to say that it is great to work at STRG, especially from an educational and social perspective. I have never felt uncomfortable sitting at my desk because something was happening in the company, and for all the reasons mentioned above, I am glad that I completed my internship at STRG.
Written by Keanu Hie