INTERN STORIES | Kriti Shrestha internship with Gada Technology
Kriti completed a Full Stack Developer internship with Gada Technology as part of her ongoing degree in Information Technology from La Trobe University.
Hear about her internship experience.
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Video transcription
Tell us about the process of getting your internship
The way I got this internship was kind of a roundabout road because I got an email from my university which said, “Oh hey! InternMatch is helping international students get internships and you should apply.” And I said, “You know what, let's apply.” I was then invited to the InternMatch launch event and that's when I met Dom (Domenic Saporito: Co-founder & Director at InternMatch).
From there I connected with him on LinkedIn, I told my coordinator that I've been introduced to Dom and I would really like to work with him, so can we move that up? And then it just happened.
Tell us about your internship experience
The first few weeks of my internship, I just focused more on studying because at the internship (Gada Technology), they used another (programming) language that I wasn't completely familiar with. So I had to start from step one, just the basics. And hence the first few weeks, it was just learning, learning and learning. As time went by, I began to understand what the company was doing, what the focuses were.
So currently, I'm focusing on documenting everything that is being taught to me, and then I'm publishing those documents on Confluence so that others who may not know about it can look back on that.
What we have in the code, I write it out in simple plain english so that anyone who may not know how to code or may not even be familiar with it, will be able to just read the documentation and go, “Oh, that's it. I get it now.”
How is an internship different to studying at university?
Something I've noticed while doing this internship is when I'd see something familiar and say, “Oh, I know this one.” And then immediately someone would tell me, “No, you don't. This is completely different.” So it's like everything that I've learned in uni is over here (indicates as low), and whatever I'm doing in internship is like over here (indicates as high).
So, It's very different. But university to me is mostly theoretical. Hence doing an internship has been more of a practical approach. It’s like I'm actually applying the concepts that I learned in university. If you are just looking at it, um, from a student and teacher perspective in a university, then you're just looking at a few lecture slides and you say, “Oh, okay, I sort of understand it, but you're not actually implementing it.” But over here (at the internship) you have to understand it, implement it and then you have to make it better. So that's the whole process.
What skills have you developed throughout your internship?
I am very introverted. For the first three or four weeks of my internship, I was so shy around everyone. Soon I started warming up to everyone and we would have Thirsty Thursdays at the office, which is the highlight of my week.
Slowly you start warming up to everyone and everyone's just so nice here. It just increases your whole communication and everything. The biggest soft skills, not related to my university, that I've gained here is being able to very comfortably socialise with everyone. Because everyone here is so open minded and it's just very easy to talk to them.
I've had difficulty asking more questions, but here (Gada) I'm encouraged to ask questions, so that's really helpful.
What was it like working with InternMatch?
It was very smooth. From the whole (process of) applying for the internship, giving the interview (all the way) to actually getting accepted, everything was smooth sailing. I didn't have a moment where I’d go, “Oh, I'm confused, I don't know what I should do now”, because my coordinator Namita (Namita Bhatia: Placement Coordinator at InternMatch), was there for me every step of the way. It was very helpful and very smooth.
What’s next on your journey?
At the end of last week, I was offered the position of Junior Software Developer at Gada and it's probably one of my biggest achievements up till date. Just landing an internship I was so grateful for it. I was so excited for it. But now, I have a job. I'm just blown away.
What would you say are the benefits of pursuing an internship?
I've always had a dire need to step out of my comfort zone. I need to get work experience. That is one of the most important things after you graduate. Now you're trying to look for a job there, and recruiters say, “Oh, they have no work experience.” An internship sets you apart from other candidates because when you do an internship, you know everything that you learned, you know how to implement it and how to apply it in real life.
Gaining all that knowledge in university is one thing, but then knowing how to actually put it to use is a whole other thing. And doing an internship really helps with that.