From intern to full-time Software Engineer – My Journey at Tremend

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From intern to full-time Software Engineer – My Journey at Tremend

Blog & Life at Tremend

How it all started

I remember I first heard of Tremend at the beginning of college, at a job fair organized by the Faculty of Mathematics and Computer Science. The enthusiasm and friendliness of the team that came to meet us and presents their internship opportunities, the work atmosphere, and the “Life at Tremend” made me feel like this is the place where I belong. So I kept in mind the company, and the following year, I applied for their Internship program, as a JavaScript Trainee. 

After a while, I received a call from a recruiter asking me if I wanted to come for an interview, and I was so happy that I instantly replied YES. I started to do a little bit more research on the company: where it started, its impressive evolution throughout the years, projects, technologies, and directions of development. The more I read, the more confident I was that I made the right choice.

The recruitment process was very fast and satisfying. I completely forgot about the pressure that an interview usually implies in all three interviews (HR, technical, and with the department manager). The positive impressions seemed to be on both sides, as I immediately received an offer that I could not refuse: I accepted it, and that’s how my “Life at Tremend” began.

The Trial Period 

The first day of work was pretty eventful, even though it was already during the pandemic. I got to meet some of the other interns, who were impatiently waiting, just like me, to make the first steps into their careers. After signing the papers, we received our equipment and a very cool welcome kit, we met our mentors and had a short introduction to the projects we were going to work on. 

I fondly remember how we gathered in a room with the Agile manifesto written on a blackboard, speaking about the expectations we’ve built before joining the team and how we would like to grow throughout the internship. Looking back, I can see that the expectations I had back then were incomparable with the actual growth, self-development, and fulfillment I encountered during the whole process.

The project I was assigned to from day one implied an important client from the banking industry, so I was pleasantly surprised that our role in the company was already a significant one. As the project was built using a technology I was not familiar with, I started looking through the documentation, asking my coach each time I had difficulties understanding the concepts.

First tasks. First transition to a new project

My first task was to build a type of component that wasn’t implemented before in the project and implied a certain amount of complexity. I took it as a challenge and tried my best to successfully come up with a solution suited for the request. During the whole process, I had the support of my mentor, who guided me in the development process and also gave me advice about good practices. That’s when I realized how important the whole coaching program is, especially for someone with no experience.

After a while, as the current project didn’t bring any new developments, I started to learn a new technology and make the transition to an even more complex project in the medical industry. Here, I worked in a fully Agile environment, with a dedicated team of developers, using some of the latest technologies and tools, like Docker, Drush, gulp, and SCSS. I’ve got to understand the actual meaning of daily meetings, plannings, groomings, retrospectives, and so on, I started giving my input in task estimations, solution proposals, and my opinion on the whole flow of the project. I also started to take part in meetings with the client and in recurrent demos of the application.

All summed up, I could actually see how much I was growing, not only by developing my technical abilities but also by boosting my self-confidence and becoming aware of the contribution I’m bringing to the team.

After a couple of projects later

One thing that you’ll probably hear a lot in Tremend is: “Do you feel that you’ve become stagnant in your current project?” Or “Do you need a new challenge in order to grow even more than you’ve already had?” And I think it defines the best the way this company involves in one’s self-development.

That’s how I also felt, not only during my internship program but even now, after almost two years in which I had the chance to switch between projects and technologies with increasing complexity, to work alongside passionate people with different degrees of seniority, and to take more and more responsibility in my role. 

My growth was shaped thanks to our Learning & Development program which includes paid technical courses, meetings to discuss different topics related to the field, introductions to the latest technologies organized by our experienced colleagues, webinars and the list could go on and on.

How’s #LifeAtTremend

Besides all the work-related activities, the people of Tremend surely know how to put passion and fun into everything they do. From playing ping-pong at the office between meetings to planning with excitement a new team building or simply a beer night, we’ve become more than colleagues – good friends you can always count on. 
I think what best defines this whole tremendous culture I became part of can be summed up in a couple of phrases: a place where work meets passion and fun, dedication towards continuous growth and improvement, appreciation, and, last but not least, the overall feeling that your role really matters.