Axiom Zen
Time flies when you’re having fun.
A couple of weeks ago, I finished my last day as a software engineer intern at Axiom Zen – I’m heading back to school for the new year.
As far as internships go, I don’t think my time at Axiom Zen could have gone any better. During my internship, I got to:
- make a real contribution to Timeline – working on and owning features that will be used by many thousands (if not millions) of users
- develop my front-end skills and pick up Angular.js
- implement and deploy a strategy for making our single page web application crawlable by search engines
- learn some new tech and put it to use from day one, developing account and security related features for our Go-based API
- participate in hackathons at Waterloo (Hack the North) and Vegas (Money 20/20) – getting time off and help with expenses!
- improve my ping-pong skills
- work with lots of interesting, fun and talented people
So yeah, it’s been a pretty good few months! The only thing I regret is not being able to see Timeline through to launch! I’m definitely looking forward to seeing it released to the general public in the new year (it’s currently in beta).
One of the things I’ve learned while working at Axiom Zen is how much I enjoy working in close-knit environments. Working in a startup – or even a tightly coordinated team in a larger organization – leaves you nowhere to hide, you sink or swim on your merits and ability (as opposed to arbitrary things such as how long you’ve been with the company). And that’s great because it means you get lots of responsibility and a chance to grow into the “reach” part of your role. Perfect for someone who wants to get to the next level of their craft.
Beyond…
Looking ahead to the new year, I’ve still got another two terms of school split up by a summer internship before I graduate. And that means… applying for jobs again!
As you can tell, I definitely enjoyed my time at Axiom Zen, but I’m also excited for the opportunities next summer presents. Whether that’s working in a completely different industry, at a startup, or even for one of the “Big 4”, here’s what I’m hoping to get out of my next internship:
I’d like to
- learn more of the stuff you can’t read about or learn in the classroom, particularly around code and system design (sure there are design patterns but knowing when to use them comes with experience – I think)
- get experience working on scaling infrastructure and/or security
- get a chance to work with large data sets and distributed computing
- work in an industry that resonates with me and which has real social value (e.g. education)
- work with fun people who are smarter than me and for whom work is a lot more than the 9 to 5
- have real responsibility
Is that a bit ambitious? Maybe. But why not? If you told me a year and a half ago – at the beginning of my coding journey – that I would be winning hackathons, engineering software in languages I’d never heard of, and meeting makers from around the world, well, I probably wouldn’t have believed you. And yet, here I am.
If there’s one thing I’ve learned about tech and coding this past year, it’s that anything is possible. And very much like a good book, I can’t wait to see what happens next.
I Learn to Code 