Episode 393: Soft skills for interns and intern to QA
Jan 29, 2024
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The podcast discusses the importance of soft skills for interns and junior engineers in the tech industry. It also explores the challenges faced by individuals in driving change within teams and organizations, as well as the difficulties and biases associated with transitioning from QA to software development roles. Additionally, the concept of buying time for brilliant ideas is discussed, along with the advantages of having experience in QA engineering for a junior software engineer role.
Having curiosity and a strong desire to learn is an important soft skill for interns in big tech companies, as it allows them to quickly adapt to new tools, technologies, and processes.
Demonstrating enthusiasm and energy is crucial for interns in a big tech company, as it helps in personal growth and building strong relationships with team members, leading to more mentorship and guidance opportunities.
Deep dives
The Importance of Curiosity in an Internship
One of the key soft skills important for interns, especially in a big tech company, is curiosity. Interns need to have a high level of curiosity to absorb as much information as possible during their internship. Big tech companies have complex internal systems and processes that interns need to learn, which can take longer compared to startups. Being curious and eager to learn allows interns to adapt quickly to new tooling, technologies, and internal processes, making them more valuable assets to the team.
Demonstrating Enthusiasm and Energy
As an intern in a big tech company, it is important to demonstrate enthusiasm and energy. Being excited and enthusiastic about the work and the opportunity to learn not only helps in personal growth but also makes a positive impression on the team. While it is important to be humble and avoid arrogance, showing genuine interest and energy can help interns build strong relationships with their team members and gain more opportunities for mentorship and guidance.
Managing Schedule and Communicating Progress
Effective schedule management and clear communication of progress are crucial soft skills for interns. Interns should proactively manage their schedule, set clear goals and deadlines, and align them with the expectations of their team. Seeking feedback from the manager on the proposed schedule is essential to ensure that the goals are realistic. Additionally, regularly updating the team on progress and achievements through status updates or team channels helps keep everyone informed and allows for better collaboration and support from team members.
In this episode, Dave and Jamison answer these questions:
NK:
Hi, I am starting a SWE internship at big tech company in a few weeks. Given the current state of the market, getting a return offer has gotten harder. I have a few software internships under my belt at this point but I am looking to excel in this internship. My goal is to get a full time offer with high pay from this internship. What are the soft skills that are specifically important for interns? This is probably applicable to junior engineers as well.
Hello Soft Skills, I’m a junior engineer who transitioned from an intern to a full-time role at my company a year ago. I anticipated training in development, but I’m stuck in a low-value automated QA role without proper leadership or team integration. My efforts to improve processes and change teams haven’t been successful, and I’m concerned about being pigeonholed early in my career. I need advice on how to initiate change with limited authority and create a competitive job application despite my limited traditional development experience.
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