I still haven’t quite come to terms with the fact that I have spent six months now at Chemishield. This post is mainly based on my reflections of my internship so far, now that I have crossed the halfway mark! To write this month’s post, I’ve been reading some of my earlier posts and I’ve certainly packed a lot in over the past few months!
While looking at my earlier posts, I reviewed the goals that I had set for myself, both on a professional and personal level and compared them to what I managed to achieve to date. I had set myself the personal goal of enjoying myself as well as learning as much as I can, and I certainly can say I have done both those things and will surely continue doing them!
I’ve also been learning my strengths and weaknesses, along with areas which I like and dislike in computing, whilst working at Chemishield. It has been a very valuable experience and has taught me that there are no areas which I should be afraid of tackling in the workplace. I have certainly improved my communication skills along with the ability to explain things more reasonably. This has made me much more confident while presenting my ideas, suggestions or thoughts.
Apart from that, I have acquired some work management skills over these months. I’m now more efficient at tracking and managing my work in a more systematic manner. At this point, it’s safe to say daily stand-ups and wash-ups along with using JIRA helped me in a way I couldn’t have imagined.
On the professional front, the Inventory Management System’s prototype is almost ready. The project is being built using the incremental prototyping model, which is a method of software development where the product is designed, implemented and tested incrementally until the product is finished.
So, what’s next? The last four weeks have been a whirlwind of new challenges and experiences (more than the other weeks.) The work is being reviewed and we will start testing soon. After testing, we will be left with UI-UX and documentation for the project. I hope Ciarán and I can finish the project before concluding our internship (fingers crossed.)
Also, starting now, I have decided to make a real effort to ask as many questions as possible about everything and anything that interests me. I appreciate how lucky I am to be surrounded by so many inspiring and interesting people with lots of wisdom and knowledge to share and I am keen to take advantage of this while it’s still so easily accessible! I’m sure these last two months will fly just like the last six months did and hence this decision.
When I applied to Chemishield, I had hoped that completing this internship would give me a clearer idea of what I wanted to do with my career and my future. The experience it has given me has offered so much more than that. Now past this halfway point, my mind has started to turn towards what happens beyond this internship, and I’ve got to say, the future is looking bright.
Thanks for reading 😉
VJ