At the end of Q4, Jerin Raisa and Lynn Kim completed their 4-month software QA internship at Crowdlinker. Through their internship, Jerin and Lynn played an important role in QAing digital products for clients like League and Finaeo, designing and developing a full-stack internal dashboard to improve daily productivity, as well as helping launch Crowdlinkers first podcast.

We took a little bit of time out of their busy schedules to reflect on their experience (and maybe provide a bit of guidance for future interns as well). Below are the questions we asked:

• Who are you and what are you studying?
• What drew you to interning at Crowdlinker?
• What were your first impressions of Crowdlinker?
• What did you work on at Crowdlinker?
• What was the most important lesson/skills you learned as an intern?
• What is something that surprised you while working at Crowdlinker?
• Do you have any shoutouts?
• What advice would you give yourself 4 months ago? What advice would you give to other University students looking to intern at companies like Crowdlinker?
• What is your next venture?

Who are you and what are you studying?

Lynn:

I’m Lynn and I’m a Systems Design Engineering student at the University of Waterloo. I’ll be starting my 2A term in January.

Jerin:

Hey, I’m Jerin and I’m currently studying Computer Engineering at the University of Waterloo, I’ll be heading into my 2A term after completing my work term at Crowdlinker.

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‍What drew you to Crowdlinker?

Lynn:

One thing that stood out to me was their focus on people and quality.

Jerin:

When I was first looking for internship opportunities, I was really impressed by the work they were doing at Crowdlinker and their vision. I wanted to explore a lot more areas of tech and gain exposure to knowledge beyond programming, so I knew Crowdlinker would give me the perfect opportunity to do that.

What did you work on at Crowdlinker?

Lynn:

As QA interns, our primary responsibilities were in conducting end-to-end testing of various digital products. Some products I was a part of were web apps and marketing sites, for clients including League, Freshbooks, Finaeo, and Omstars. However, we also took on various responsibilities outside of QA — we took on a project where we created an application to streamline daily tasks for employees, and we also helped out a lot with marketing.

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Jerin:

While working at Crowdlinker, I got the chance to work on a lot of different projects over the past couple of months -- ranging from conducting QA on Crowdlinker’s various projects to being a part-time marketing intern to designing and developing a full-stack internal dashboard to improve daily productivity. Each of these tasks helped me become a better developer and learn beyond just development.

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Regarding my tasks as a QA Analyst, I also spent some time researching test automation frameworks such as Cypress and Selenium for a few projects and applying them on a few of our marketing sites. A few of the products I was a part of included web applications, marketing websites, and hybrid react sites, where I worked for clients like OmStars, Yumba, LANCE, and many more.

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What was the most important lesson/skill you learned?

Lynn:

Because we were helping out in so many different areas, it was really important that I was able to pick things up quickly and hit the ground running. Being able to recognize what you know and don’t know, problem solving and troubleshooting when things don’t go as planned, and recognizing when to ask questions are skills that will help me in my future experiences.

Jerin:

I think the most important lesson I learned here as an intern is to not be afraid to make mistakes and reflect on them. Whenever we made a mistake as a team whether that be on a project or personal, we always reflected on them and had retrospective meetings to make sure we didn’t make the same mistakes twice. That taught me that it’s okay to make mistakes as long as you can reflect on them and learn from them as an intern.

What is something that surprised you while working at Crowdlinker?

Lynn:

I was definitely surprised by the company culture. Everyone was welcoming when we first started our term, and everyone was willing to help me learn new things. The team is really hardworking and dedicated to what they do.

Jerin:

I think something that surprised me while working at Crowdlinker are the dogs and how laid back everyone is if you decide to bring your dog to work. 😄

Do you have any shoutouts?

Lynn:

Everyone on the team made my experience at Crowdlinker enjoyable, and I was able to learn a lot during my time here

Jerin:

Big shoutout to the entire team and everything they’ve taught me in the past few months, ranging from development, to design, to being able to work with such a great and inclusive team.

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What advice would you give yourself 4 months ago? What advice would you give to other university students looking to intern at product design and engineering companies like Crowdlinker?

Lynn:

Co-op is what you make of it. Network with the people around the office, take advantage of all the resources that are available and be proactive when there are learning opportunities.

Jerin:

I think the main advice I would give to myself 4 months ago is to be really flexible and open-minded with the work and the skills I can learn here at Crowdlinker. It wasn’t just QA I was doing the entire time, I got the flexibility and the opportunity to learn about design, work with others on projects to develop my technical skills, and even go beyond development into the marketing end of things here at Crowdlinker.

Some advice I would give to anyone else interested in working at companies like Crowdlinker would be to take advantage of the opportunities you’re given here at these types of companies and to be really proactive. You have a lot of resources and skills around you, but it will be your initiative that will drive how much you learn beyond your basic job activities.

What is your next venture?

Lynn:

In my next co-op, I’d like to transition into a software engineering position

Jerin:

For my next internship, I’ll be looking forward to moving into product design, UI/UX design or software developer role. 💻

Jerin and Lynn were exemplary interns with a strong work ethic, attention to detail and eagerness to learn. Their enthusiasm to take on challenges outside of their job description was refreshing and encouraging to see as a colleague. Overall, Jerin and Lynns’ presence was appreciated and impactful. You guys will be missed!

For more information about Crowdlinkers’ Internship Program, reach out to us directly.

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