Meet our Summer of Tech Alumni
It can be difficult to get that first job in IT.
Getting your foot in the door, even being asked back for a second interview, can be incredibly challenging when you have little to no prior working experience in the industry.
Summer of Tech provides a platform for students to meet potential employers and see what opportunities are out there. I myself got my first software development job through a similar Summer internship initiative, so I know first-hand just how valuable these programs are for students.
PartsTrader has participated in Summer of Tech a few times. We see it as a great way to bring new people on board who have fresh ideas and naturally challenge the way we work for the better! Meet the team that joined us through Summer of Tech and are now helping lead the way in creating the best parts procurement solution in the world.
Meet Charlotte - Software Developer
Summer of Tech Alumni 2020
What was the process like getting your role as a Software Developer?
The process of getting a job is generally pretty stressful. However, PartsTrader made the process much more pleasant than expected! It started with the Meet & Greet where I had a nice general chat with one of the team leads. Then I did a 15-minute speed interview, which was a great way to get to know a little more about the role and the company. They learned a little more about me too! Lastly, I had a relaxed interview where we went for a coffee and I got to know some of the people I would be working with and got to understand the company culture better.
What was the coolest thing you did during your internship?
During my internship, I worked in a team creating a custom React component library. This UI overhaul was a pretty big step for PartsTrader, so the coolest part was being able to share the work completed. We ran some ‘share and educate’ sessions with the rest of the development teams in Wellington. We then did a company-wide presentation to the United States where our work was greatly appreciated. It was really awesome to get such good feedback and have our work actually go somewhere.
What’s something you learned whilst in your internship?
Where do I begin? Firstly, I learned heaps of new technologies. I learned what a guild was (a group within the team that wanted to learn something specific), and ended up joining two in my first week! I improved my coding standards ten-fold. I met with our CEO (cool dude!) and learned a lot about how our business is run. What I found most beneficial was learning about how to work well in a development team towards an ongoing goal and the importance of questioning everything we do to allow everyone to do their best work.
What’s something that has surprised you about your job?
I was surprised at how much of a say I would have as a junior developer surrounded by so many knowledgeable senior developers. Something I am always being encouraged to do is “ruffle feathers” which I love, and have found to be beneficial for everyone.
Meet Daniel - Software Developer
Summer of Tech Alumni 2018
How did you hear about PartsTrader?
I first heard of PartsTrader at the Wellington Summer of Tech Meet & Greet in 2018. I had my list of companies I wanted to talk to such as Xero, Trade Me, and other household names, and I saw this little table for PartsTrader. I made eye contact with James McPheat, twice, and felt obliged to talk to him. I liked what I heard, so I was like, “alright, cool, I’ll add you guys to my list”. Then Lisa and James interviewed me, and later I was made an offer for an internship with them over the summer. I must have done something right because they asked me to stay on part-time while I completed my degree which really helped as I was able to apply skills I learned on the job to my university projects.
How long have you been at PartsTrader and what keeps it interesting for you?
I have been here for about two and a half years. I have been full-time for roughly one and a half years. There are a lot of factors that keep it interesting at PartsTrader, with one of them being the opportunities that PartsTrader has given me. I have been fortunate enough to work with a lot of highly skilled people on exciting new projects that touch many different areas within our platforms. I have also gone on multiple courses for machine learning and AWS, which are subjects that I find interesting. It is great that PartsTrader has supported attending events like these as it has enabled me to continue to grow as a developer.
Is there something that you’re the go-to guy for at PartsTrader?
Haha yeah, there are a couple of things actually! My main one is for our SSRS reports for our New Zealand platform, which I worked on for my internship project back in 2018 and early 2019. Basically, if the business has any questions about our reports or wants modifications, I can quickly be of service to them. Another thing that I more recently worked on was making our New Zealand platform cache data more centralized, so if there are any questions about caching I sometimes get those as well.
What opportunities have you had to lead something or make a change?
From the beginning, I feel like my input has always been listened to. One opportunity I had was to lead the caching work, where I got to design and modify the existing data structures in how we cache data. I also took charge of organizing one of our hackathon days called Accelerate Day. Accelerate Day is an exciting innovation event that allows anyone around the office to pitch a project idea, form a team, and have a couple of days to work on it. There is a lot of organizing required for these events, from deciding on a theme and decorating the office to planning how everything will fit together, but it is rewarding at the end to see everyone having lots of fun!
What do you think sets PartsTrader apart?
I know this sounds cliché, but the culture. PartsTrader contains an amazing group of people and I can honestly say I look forward to coming in each day. From having multiple social events, playing foosball with workmates, having many laughs, and casually bantering with the CFO, I feel that we have a very precious and unique work culture. On the more technical side, I think our hunger for innovation is also a step up compared to a lot of other companies. As mentioned before, we have these hackathon-type events called Accelerate Day usually once or twice a year. The sky is the limit with these projects, and quite often a little idea from one of these does make its way into production. Oh, and it is always fun seeing someone from the finance team trying to code!
Meet Tom: Software Developer
Summer of Tech Alumni 2020
What was the process like getting your internship?
I went through the SoT process three years in a row, once unsuccessful, the next year was successful but did not end up working out long-term, and finally I arrived at PartsTrader where I can see myself sticking around to learn as much as possible.
It can be a tough experience, but persistence and practice is the only way to do it. I suggest throwing yourself in the deep end - you'll always end up in a better place because of it.
What was the coolest thing you did during your internship?
Set new modern standards for UI development within PartsTrader. Teaching the other developers about these standards was a very cool and challenging experience.
What’s something that has surprised you about your job?
The amount of time spent playing foosball! Also, everyone at PartsTrader is motivated to work together to do the best for the company and its platform/s. This positivity is a refreshing change from uni life.
What’s something you learned whilst in your internship?
I have learned to take advantage of the subject matter experts available. This has allowed me to accelerate my growth in areas that I was not initially strong in.
What are your plans for the future e.g career or uni wise?
Finish off my degree part-time this year. Then I’d like to continue my career development by learning everything there is to learn at PartsTrader. I’d like to utilise the non-uni life to explore things outside of work, hopefully overseas. Fingers crossed. I hope that that will set me up to take on any challenge the industry has to throw at me.
Meet Midhat: Quality Assurance
Summer of Tech Alumni 2020
What was the process like getting your role?
The process was a little difficult. I had attended a few events and made sure to keep my profile up to date with all my skills. During Meet & Greet, I got to talk to a handful of people and had to reach out to many other companies. It was a learning experience as I learned to write professional emails and reach out to companies on my own.
What was the coolest thing you did during your internship?
Working with a lot of amazing people that always greet you with a smile.
What’s something that has surprised you about your job?
I found it surprising when I was introduced to the project I would be working on for the duration of my internship. I was in a team with two other interns as well as an expert in the subject and we were given full agency and ownership over our project. We got to choose the tools and processes we were to use over the next 10 weeks. It led to a lot of learning opportunities and improved my teamwork skills.
What’s something you learned whilst in your internship?
I learned a lot during the internship ranging from new tools to some things around office culture. One of my biggest takeaways, however, was to give new things a go and I’ll end up learning along the way.
Meet Ben: Software Developer
Summer of Tech Alumni 2018
How did you hear about PartsTrader?
I heard about PartsTrader through my old job. I worked part-time on the after-hours service desk for PartsTrader so I knew a few familiar faces - and I saw PartTrader’s booth at the Wellington Summer of Tech Meet n’ Greet. After hearing more about the development side of PartsTrader and the culture they became one of my top options for my Summer of Tech internship.
How long have you been at PartsTrader and what keeps it interesting for you?
I have been at PartsTrader as a developer for just over two and a half years now. Throughout that time I have had the opportunity to involve myself with many different initiatives. Frontend development practices, test automation, and machine learning to name a few. Having the ability to engage in different fields of interest and with a diverse workload means it’s hard to get bored.
Is there something that you’re the go-to guy for at PartsTrader?
I try to learn about as many areas as possible in the application so I’m no expert in a single area but know a lot about the applications as a whole. If there was anything I would be the go-to for it would probably be the first piece of work I did when I started at PartsTrader, Test Stubs. I worked quite a bit on this, looking at how we can mock external services in our development and testing environments.
What opportunities have you had to lead something or make a change?
There have been multiple times where I have been able to drive an initiative in the office. I am a member of multiple guilds (Machine Learning, Frontend, Architecture) which have given me the opportunity to be at the front of advancing our tools & practices.
What do you think sets PartsTrader apart?
Definitely the culture. PartsTrader values its people as one of its most prized assets. Everyone is passionate about their work and providing a better experience for the end-users. The people at PartsTrader are like one big family. They all want to do the best they can and have trust and confidence in each other to do their best.