So there I was, fresh out of University and eager to find not only a job but the next step in terms of my career in Software Development. As I roamed the virtual jungle of Stack Overflow trying to understand why NaN is not equal to NaN, I noticed an internship ad from Grabyo. This was such perfect timing that after checking their website, I was quite excited to apply for it.

As I made progress with the internship process, it was really fun to see that the technical test was poker themed, as I had never played the game before, this felt like the perfect opportunity for me to finally learn the game! Oh and potentially land an internship too, of course. So to say the least, I was really looking forward to it.

So after completing the test and being called for the following face-to-face interview, I was given the awesome news that I had been chosen for the position.

Settling down

And here I was, my first day on the job. After seeing some familiar faces from earlier on, and with the feeling of I HAVE A JOB still within, I was ready to start. The following days went really well. Even before I had started, I was given an impressively thought-out plan which covered the next 3 months of the internship. This was perfect as it not only pointed out the deliverables of the project but also highlighted the different areas and processes I would be working with.

Moreover, as part of my first project, I got to work on an internal product called Social Wall. It allows users to receive a stream of comments from Social Networks, moderate them and then overlay selected comments directly into a live video stream. My work involved expanding on its current implementation and having it fully integrated with other company products, which was really exciting.

My time at Grabyo

The internship itself was extremely rewarding. The work atmosphere encouraged you to learn as it offered so many opportunities for growth. I really enjoyed the paired programming sessions, which could be as broad as writing UA tests with a full-stack dev, to working on a project bug with someone from the front-end team. Everyone was always so accommodating no matter how simple or complex a task. Additionally, I also really enjoyed our “Codegrammings”, which were a weekly show and tell session where you would be exposed to a vast set of talks from all areas of engineering. Personally, what made Codegrammings so enjoyable was that they were given by the colleagues you worked with and saw every day, it made each session feel really engaging.

Ultimately, what makes this environment work is the people behind it. Grabyo has such a driven and diverse team, both in personal and technical terms. Everyone has a story to tell and more importantly, something to share and teach.

Company spirit

And now the fun stuff. It has to be said that Grabyo has an amazing social culture that is extremely valued and apparent. It is a centric aspect of the company, which meant as an intern, I was taking part in board/video games during lunch, weekly football after work, fun group activities held every month, themed hackathons, and a big Grabyo day out, as to name a few. Aside from being extremely entertaining, this social side of Grabyo meant that I was able to really know people, other than just being work colleagues.

Summary

To summarise my time as an intern at Grabyo, it really boils down to working on cool tech whilst having fun. I will never forget the day my project was finally released. Being able to contribute to something which affects so many people and somehow makes a difference, to me, was truly the highlight of this internship. Oh, and there is also getting a full-time job. And joining the secret front-end slack channel but don’t tell them I mentioned it.