People · 2025-02-27 · DEVER Editorial · 2 min read
Two Interns on What They Learned
Development learned on real work, told by the interns doing it.
We asked Kelly, who worked as a front-end intern, and Hannah, who worked as a back-end intern, about the culture here, and about what they learned.
On why they applied: Kelly found front-end work interesting after building for the web at university and wanted to develop that on real projects. Hannah was drawn to a company delivering IT solutions across different industries, where the work reaches actual users.
Their answers on team culture overlapped. Using English names instead of titles makes it easier to talk to anyone, and an atmosphere where everyone can say what they think keeps collaboration moving. Kelly added that core hours took the pressure off the commute and helped her settle in faster.
The early months were not effortless. Kelly found it hard to read someone else's code and add to it, but the developers next to her explained things at her level, and she wrote each explanation up in Notion and went back over it. Hannah needed time to adjust to a PHP and Laravel environment she had not used before; she read through project examples outside working hours and asked her mentor for code feedback often.
Asked what felt most worthwhile, Kelly pointed to building a screen and a feature herself, and to seeing her suggestions actually applied to the project. Hannah described watching an API she had written being used on a screen with real users on it, and feeling pride and responsibility at the same time.
On the most important thing they learned, Kelly said “responsibility inside freedom.” A flat working relationship makes people talk more openly and, at the same time, own what they do. Hannah said “be someone who has a reason for the technology they use.” Rather than taking code as a given, she now asks why, weighs the alternatives, and picks what is best right now.
They were candid about what could be better. Kelly would like shorter meetings and a basic guideline for how projects communicate. Hannah would like a stronger code review culture: more stable services for the company, and more efficient code for each developer.
On the developer they want to become: Kelly wants to be able to explain anything clearly to whoever asks. Hannah wants to keep her curiosity about the areas she cares about and keep bringing new technology into real work.