Viakoo, Inc.

Software Engineering Intern

April - August 2018 • Mountain View, CA

What I liked

They gave me a lot of independence while still giving me support when I needed it. They gave me a few projects to work on, their specifications, etc. and let me do my thing to work on the project. All they asked for was for me to give them daily updates on my progress at our morning meetings. Since the size of the company is so small, it has a very social atmosphere which can make coming to work so much more of a joy.

What I wish was different

Even though I liked the independence, I would have liked to see more structure with the code-review system they have in place. For large portions of time I was locked behind a "review-wall" because I wasn't able to move on until someone reviewed my code, but because there was no structure, the code would only be reviewed once that individual decided they had time for it which took weeks on a few occasions in my case.

Advice

Don't be afraid to ask questions. This is a small start-up, so you are most likely going to be the only person working on your project. This doesn't mean you have to figure everything out for yourself however. The engineers who have been there for years, have had enough experience working with significant portions of the code and/or talking through ideas for the rest of the code base that really anyone at the company can help you if you get stuck. Also be open to criticism. Chances are, they have significantly more experience coding and engineering solutions than you have. Use the review time (both in code and project design) as ways to learn more about the various principles employed in the software community. And don't be hesitant to join their design discussions. There is a lot you can learn about something you've never even thought of before by just joining the conversation.

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