Every year we select several young and passionate candidates to show them around our office and our mindset, and to share with them some of our knowledge, as part of the eSolutions Internship Program. So how did this year’s internship go, what technologies did they study, and what was their final project? Find out below.
While in 2021, the internship program was focused on Java, Spring Frameworks, SQL & Front-End Development, 2022 has brought about big changes in alignment with current tech trends, and had two different groups: one focused on backend development (Java), for those willing to handle the behind-the-scenes functionality of web applications, and the second group focused on DevOps, for those keen on automating and integrating the processes between development and IT operations.
Spanning six weeks, the internship was divided into two parts: theory and practice.
The first stage of the internship, what we call the theoretical part, had introductory lessons in Linux, Git, Docker, Kubernetes, PostgreSQL, and Agile Methodology (Agile Development and Planning) for both groups, and then specific courses for each specialization, as follows:
At the end of the three weeks of theory, we celebrated with a BBQ and a party eSol-style, drank beer from our friends over at Zaganu, the interns and the trainers received specially-designed eSolutions Internship 2022 T-shirts, we sang songs and laughed. They needed it, before hopping onto the next stage of the internship: the hands-on part.
In this second stage, they had to work on a specific project. After long debates among the seniors in our company, and a few project suggestions, the internship project was chosen! It is called Estimex and it’s a web app that simplifies the quota process through the standardization of the estimation model. The app will provide information on the costs of implementing a software application, the technologies, the architecture, the technical team, and the duration of the implementation.
The technology stack used was PostgreSQL for the database, Java, Spring framework and REST API for the backend, Mustache Templating for the frontend, Docker & Kubernetes for the infrastructure, ArgoCD for the deploy pipeline, and Spock or Groovy for testing. This is how the architecture of the project looks like:
The project is quite complex for interns but, lo and behold, they managed to do it since the team followed the SCRUM methodology and worked in three one-week sprints.
The challenges the interns met with during the three weeks were related to the complexity of the developed app, and the tools used, but there were also some soft skills-related challenges:
> team size vs. project complexity: backend interns also had to take care of the frontend - they used Mustache templating, and they didn’t consider it to be accessible enough
> adaptability to frequent changes: finishing the project in time, despite numerous project changes
> not all conflicts were in git: working with people with different mindsets or experience is always challenging
Safe to say that such an internship experience prepares them not only for the technical part of a job, but also for teamwork: better communication within a team and better time management.
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They even had an extra challenge from one of the trainers, the Zero JavaScript Challenge! Did they manage to not use JavaScript at all? Well… let’s just say it was a challenge indeed!
So we can all understand why ping-pong breaks to chill out were a must!
We asked some of the people involved in this project to tell us what the eSolution Internship meant to them and how the internship experience was, and here are a few of their answers:
Before any other comment, I would like to thank all the participants for choosing our internship program and for trusting us. An army of specialists contributed so that our students receive the most important information at the beginning of their journey.
Personally, it was a real pleasure to work with this year’s students, they were very involved during the whole program, and they brilliantly coped with all the challenges. I was the scrum master on duty for this project ? and I can honestly say that, although their first contact with the Agile Methodology was within this internship, they managed to do it admirably.
Congrats to all the interns!
Madalina Grigoras, Project Manager Internship
There were 6 intense weeks in which we tried to lay the foundations of an independent DevOps engineer: Linux, Virtualization, Cloud, Docker, Kubernetes. I am happy with the progress the students have made and I look forward to being colleagues with them and mastering Kubernetes clusters.
Viorel Anghel, DevOps Trainer
This year's interns were exceptional! Although they started off timid, they quickly grew into a tight knit team full of confidence in overcoming all the tasks we had in store for them. Their courage to face technically difficult tasks and team synergy, along with their capacity to rapidly integrate new information were, in my opinion, the key points that led to a wonderfully designed web application.
If you sometimes feel like your job gets a tad stale, a day coaching interns will surely come as a breath of fresh air - at the very least you'll get to see some incredibly creative solutions which I wasn't able to imagine myself. Among their smiles and uplifting spirit, I feel like they will always be a welcomed sight for any team, while growing to become great professionals.
Alexandru Tanasescu, Java Trainer
I enjoyed working with this year’s interns. I have observed their exponential evolution throughout these six weeks, and I believe that this experience will be one of the most important steps in their career. The thing that impressed me the most was the fact that I noticed a friendship being formed between the DevOps team and the Java team, that helped the communication within the project, in the last three weeks of the internship. This super friendly vibe is a phenomenon that also happens within the eSol team, and I believe this is the difference between us and other companies.
George Dumitrica, DevOps Trainer
August 27 marked the last day of the internship, and the final garden party was exactly what everyone needed! Most interns will be joining eSolutions full-time and we are extremely glad to enlarge our team with young and passionate techies. Last but not least, we'd like to thank everyone involved in this project! Knowledge is our super power!
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