“I think that it is a wonderful feeling to write code, make something and see it come to life.”
As you may have seen in previous posts, we at Conn3cted are great believers in sharing our knowledge. Providing work experience opportunities to students is one way we achieve this, by helping them to see how the skills they learn at school can be applied in a real-life workplace. It also gives them an idea of the different roles in a tech organisation, and how we utilise our individual skill sets to work towards a common goal.
We recently hosted Alex, a student from Normanhurst Boys High School, and asked him to answer a few questions about himself and what he got up to here.
What sparked your interest in computer science?
I found my interest in computer science through the work done in school. I think that it is a wonderful feeling to write code, make something and see it come to life. It also does not need too much memorisation; there is a lot of problem solving that is required in this field as opposed to some others. I also like it because you don’t need to follow strict rules; there is a level of freedom that you have when doing projects, and this gives a chance for your creativity to shine.
Why did you choose a tech company to complete work experience at?
I chose a tech company to complete my work experience at because of who would be working there. Having experts in the area was a great help for me to get to know more about the area of tech, because they shared their experience with me and taught me things that I could not have found by asking anyone else.
What did you do during your week at Conn3cted?
During my week at Conn3cted, I worked through activities set by Matija. This included using Conn3cted’s own product, Little Big Shop, to create my own (fake) shop, and also created a HTML website based on Conn3cted. I was fortunate enough to get to speak with some people who worked there, and they gave me great insight into what goes on in the company and how they got to where they were.
Alex presenting the Little Big Shop he created to our CIO and co-founder Kelly Lamborn and CTO and co-founder Glenn Murray.
Did you learn or do anything you didn’t expect to?
To be honest, I don’t know what I was expecting. I didn’t think that I would actually experience things similar to what others already working there do. Being at a workplace for a week and speaking with the people there was all new to me, and I am glad to have experienced that.
Alex participating in our tradition of Friday games.
What was your favourite part of the work experience?
Just being out of school and experiencing the real world was already great, but also being with people who were willing to help me with my interests was the cherry on top. I thoroughly enjoyed the whole time that I spent at Conn3cted during my week of work experience, and I would totally do it again.
A final word from us
Although Alex was only with us for a week, we immediately saw that he is bright and quietly confident. It also didn’t take long for him to feel as if he was a longstanding team member! We wish him all the best with his studies at Normanhurst Boys.
Curious about work experience and internships at Conn3cted? Learn more by checking out these blog posts:
Are you a Year 10 student looking to complete work experience? Get in touch with us here.