Tag Archives: internships

Events, Meet the Team, Office Life

Fall Career Fairs: Have You Got What it Takes?

SoftArtisans TeamComing to a college near you.  We’re seeking inventive college students with object-oriented programming under their belts, a penchant for amassing new skills and those who don’t mind a few BBQs.  Think you’ve got the coding chops to work in this dynamic office? Then we want to meet you. If your school is not listed below, drop us a note, and tell us why you dream in C#.  Links to projects, coding samples, and other ways to showcase your craft are the best way to catch our eye (wink, wink).

Internships | Co-ops | Full-time.  We’re big on hands-on learning and career development. In years past we’ve had interns work on product demos, pick up a new programming language, and share their expertise on our blog. Your work will have a direct impact on the company and product. Interested? Stop by our booth to chat with one of our engineers!

Who we are:  A close-knit, dynamic, and agile team.  We work hard: Crafting artful code while solving challenging problems. We play hard: Office foosball, board games, cookouts, and company retreats. We’re encouraged to develop our skill sets by attending conferences and classes.

What we do: We aim to make business people more productive through all of our products. As a leading developer of Microsoft Office reporting software, we build scalable enterprise solutions.  Our products are OfficeWriter (an API for reading and writing Microsoft Office documents) and FileUp (a secure and easy-to-use File Transfer API).

Find out more about internship and career opportunities at SoftArtisans and how to join the SA Crew (and get in on those BBQs) by interacting with us on all of the usual social media hotspots or visiting one of the career fairs below.  Looking forward to seeing you then!

FALL CAREER FAIRS

Worcester Polytechnic Institute

Wednesday, September 18, 2013

12:30 – 4:30 pm

Rochester Institute of Technology

Wednesday, September 25, 2013

11 am – 4 pm

@RITCareerFairs

RPI

Friday, September 27, 2013

10 am – 3:30 pm Continue reading Fall Career Fairs: Have You Got What it Takes? →

Office Life, The Intern Diaries

The Intern Diaries: Madalyn [Part 2]

This is the fourth installment of our Intern Diaries series, wherein each week our lovely interns give you the inside scoop on what being a programming intern at a high-tech startup is really like. Read the first and second post of the series or listen to this group’s first podcast.

Need to catch up? Read the first part of Madalyn’s 7 step guide to getting a tech internship here.

perfman_hr_job_interview STEP 4: TIME TO IMPRESS

You get that wonderful email, that inspiring phone call: Would you like to come in for an interview? Hooray! Then the nerves hit. Oh no, interview! This is all that’s between you and that internship now. Just remember, don’t freak out. You’ve already risen to the top of everyone at the career fair. Your resume was put on the top of that giant resume pile. The company already strongly believes they want YOU. Why do they think that? Your people skills impressed them at the career fair; they were awed by your dazzling resume; and they have reason to believe (based on your school projects and past experiences) that you’ve got what it takes to work on a team and write good, quality code. But they don’t want a code monkey. They want an engineer. Someone who is thoughtful, and thinks deeply about the code they design.

So you got the interview. The company has thrown the first pitch and you’re up to bat. Unfortunately, as it has been true for me in the past, whenever I feel I’ve bombed the interview I’ve been offered the job, and whenever I think I’ve nailed it I’ve been rejected. So there is no sure-fire way to tell if you’ve done Step 4 correctly when you walk out of that interview room. (Aside from them offering you the job right then and there—which almost never happens).

So you’ll probably be nervous. And guess what? So will the company. They’ll be nervous for the awkwardness that is meeting new people and not knowing what to expect. Your interviewer(s) will be worried about you not being a good fit and having to interview yet ANOTHER candidate. So instead of reading hundreds of tech interview books (which can help with brushing up on those technical questions), here’s what you do:

Keep in mind that your interviewers don’t care all that much if you get the (technical) answer to every question right. They want to find someone who has good team and collaboration skills. They want to hire someone who can think through problems and who doesn’t give up. This is what you have to show them. Think out-loud; talk through problems. Show them your strategies. Draw diagrams on the whiteboard if it helps you (as a visual person, I’m always doing this, both in and outside of interviews). What you’re doing is letting them know you are not just some “computer science student.” You are a problem-solver. And that’s what really matters.

 STEP 5: FOLLOW UP

You’re done with the interview, and now the stress is over. Make sure you email your interviewers and thank them all for their time. It’s most likely that your interview Continue reading The Intern Diaries: Madalyn [Part 2] →

Office Life, The Intern Diaries

The Intern Diaries: Shane – I’ve Made a Huge Mistake

When I chose Riparian Data, I had no idea what I was getting into. I showed up to my first day excited to organize filing cabinets and get print outs. I can get a mean cup of coffee or drop something off at the post office in under 2 minutes. Much to my dismay, there were no filing cabinets, and developers got their own coffee. I didn’t even realize we had a printer for the first four weeks. Instead the team expected me to write code. Not just any code, though, they wanted me to write actual code for the app. I realized they were a little confused and tried to explain to them that I was an intern. They just didn’t get it and kept trying to give me real work, as if they actually expected me to provide productive contributions.

After talking to a few friends, I realized how unlucky I was. One has to play with the company’s app all day everyday without ever seeing the code. Another does have to work on code, but, not to worry, it will never actually touch his company’s product (phew!). I need to acknowledge, though, that it could be so much worse. One friend has been tasked with creating an entire web application for his company. Not only must he code, but he must design and plan an application for actual use. Dreadful, I know.

Really, though, internships are pretty sweet. I get 2 months to check out a company and work with their full time devs on a real product. I’m expected to jump right in and learn as I go. I came in with zero iOS experience and was supposed to spend my first few days simply learning Objective C and Xcode (the IDE for Apple Apps). Over the past month, I’ve worked on everything from finding the best way of connecting the server to our database to localizing our app so it could potentially be translated into other languages.

For college kids like me, internships are like the 90-Day Money Back Guarantees of the working world. We get the chance to jump into a company and see it from the inside. It is about more than just getting to do “real world” code. It also gives us a glimpse into how companies really function and what type of company matches our personality. Some of my friends loved the idea of working at a huge company with products that play a part of our everyday life, so they went to Facebook or Google. A few others were interested in the startup culture, so they found tiny startups to work for.

With my friends working all over the place, I’ve been asking them about their experiences and teams. For this post, I decided to send out a little survey to get a little bit of a bigger picture on my friend’s internships. I received about 60 responses, mostly from Olin students. Here are the questions along with the most common answer:

  • What type of internship is it? Computer Engineering/Software
  • Given the chance, would you return to this company? Yes
  • On a scale from 1-10, how much responsibility are you given compared to a full-time employee? 7.317
  • Was this internship your first choice? Yes
  • What class are you in? 2015
  • How large is the company? 15-50 People or 1000+ People

I found a few interesting stats when I started to punch the numbers.

Continue reading The Intern Diaries: Shane – I’ve Made a Huge Mistake →

Office Life, The Intern Diaries

The Intern Diaries: Alex

interns_alexThis is the first installment of our Intern Diaries series, wherein each week our lovely interns give you the inside scoop on what being a programming intern at a high-tech startup is really like. This week Alex walks you through first impressions of his internship.

Hello, my name is Alex, and I am a sophomore at Oberlin College. I have been interning at SoftArtisans for a little over a month and am happy to report that my expectations have already been exceeded. I do real work, get to code, and have learned about the different parts of a software company.

Before arriving at SoftArtisans I didn’t have any warm and fuzzy feelings associated with offices. My dad works at a big law firm in Boston and over the years, my visits have shaped my perception of the work world. His office is a sterile and quiet place. The walls are white and the floors are so clean that I almost feel funny walking in with my sneakers on. However, after entering and sensing the atmosphere, it is evident shoes are not to be removed.

This leads me to why I love being at SoftArtisans. Sure it’s great to walk around barefoot and wear casual clothing, but more than that, it is all the other reasons that I feel comfortable at work.

I am a technical support intern and every day the Technical Services (TS) department does something called Stand-Up. During Stand-Up the team circles up and takes turns saying what they are working on. In addition to keeping the team organized, Stand-Up is a great opportunity to voice any concerns or ask for help.

In one of my first Stand-Ups, Continue reading The Intern Diaries: Alex →

Office Life, The Intern Diaries

Summer 2013 Interns

Our favorite time of year is upon us. It’s summertime, and that means kayaking down the Charles, BBQ’s in the parking lot, and best of all summer interns. We’re handing over the blogging reins to this talented crew. Each week follow along as they give you an inside look at SoftArtisans and Riparian Data, life as an intern at a start up, and any other random musings that pop into their heads. They’ve already taken over with their podcast. Listen in on itunes!

Summer 2013 Interns

(Top row: Kyle, Justin, Daniel, Front row: Madalyn, Alex, Shane)

The questions:
1. Where do you go to school?
2. What do you study?
3. Give us a unique/random fact of your choosing.

The answers:

Kyle:

1. Olin College of Engineering.
2. Software Engineering and Applied Mathematics.
3. A random fact about me is that I am the music director of Olin’s premier a cappella group, the PowerChords.

Justin:

1. Rochester Institute of Technology
2. Game Design
3. The average color of the universe is known as Cosmic Latte.  (If it was actually supposed to be about me, then… uh… on good days, I could see Canada from the house where I grew up?)

Daniel:

1. Gann Academy

Madalyn:

1. I go to Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI)
2. I study Computer Science and Digital Art.
3. The longest (documented) that a person has ever lived was to the age of 124 years.

Shane: 

1. Olin College of Engineering Continue reading Summer 2013 Interns →

Office Life, The Intern Diaries, Truth in Tech

Truth in Tech Ep. 20: The Internship

So you want to be a programming intern? Take it from these all-star students who’ve maneuvered the tech waters to land hands-on programming internships. They give you the inside scoop on where to look, secret interview questions, and what it’s really like at a summer internship. Listen in on itunes.

Truth in Tech E20: The InternshipTech internships have been getting a lot of play in the news and pop culture lately, but what are they actually like? Our summer interns spill the deets.

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via Ripariandata

ASP.NET, Events, Meet the Team, Programming

Events: Spring 2013 Career Fairs

IMG_1115 Photo 2IMG_1056

Coming to a college near you. We’re Looking for swashbuckling, creative college grads with object-oriented programming under the belts, a penchant for amassing new skills, and who don’t mind a few board games and BBQs. Think you’ve got the coding chops to work in this dynamic office environment? Then we want to meet you.

We’re big on hands-on learning and career development. In years past we’ve had interns work on product demos, pick up a new programming language, and share their expertise on our blog. Have a question? Ask it. Have an opinion? State it. Have an idea? Run with it.

Got you curious? Let our Technical Services team give you an inside look at this eclectic group and the types of projects you could be working on in this video.

Who we are: SoftArtisans is a leading developer of Microsoft Office reporting software. As a key Microsoft partner, SoftArtisans delivers award-winning products to over 20,000 clients in over 70 countries. We’re a company founded on brains not gimmicks and we aim to keep it that way.

Find out more about internship and career opportunities at SoftArtisans and how to join the SA Crew (and get in on those BBQs) by interacting with us on all of the usual social media hotspots or visiting one of the career fairs below. Looking forward to seeing you then!

Spring Career Fairs

Olin College

Wednesday, February 13, 2013, 11 a.m. – 2 p.m. Continue reading Events: Spring 2013 Career Fairs →

Office Life, Programming, The Intern Diaries

The Intern Diaries: Ingrid

This is the third installment of our Intern Diaries series, wherein each week our lovely interns try to give you the inside scoop on what being a programming intern at a high-tech startup is really like. [For Part 1 and Part 2] This week Ingrid tackles what makes for great code. See what she’s discovered below.

I’ve been considering what defines well-designed code this summer both via literature and my own experiences. It’s a big question so I’ve been taking my time, and slowly amassing a list of the characteristics of awesome code. However, this past week, the list has become longer and clearer in my mind because of the introduction of three-person code reviews. At this point, I’ve decided that the seven characteristics of stellar code are:

  1. Simplicity: the code takes the least convoluted and shortest way to resolve the issue.
  2. Readability: the code is formatted so it isn’t a pain to read. For example, I can assert with confidence that the C# ? operator can be easily replaced with an if/else statement just for the readability factor.
  3. Flexibility: if a piece of code is repeated frequently, can it be made into a method? Continue reading The Intern Diaries: Ingrid →

Office Life, The Intern Diaries

The Intern Diaries

Our favorite time of year is upon us. It’s summertime, and that means kayaking down the Charles, BBQ’s in the parking lot, and best of all summer interns. We’re handing over the blogging reins to this talented crew. Each week follow along as they give you an inside look at SoftArtisans and Riparian Data, life as an intern at a start up, and any other random musings that pop into their heads.

(from left to right: Josh, Grace, Ingrid, Julian, Shane)

The questions:
1. Where do you go to school?
2. What do you study?
3. Give us a unique/random fact of your choosing.

The answers:
Josh: 
  1. Stanford University
  2. I’m still deciding on a major, but I know for sure I’m really excited about Mechanical Engineering and Computer Science, and also possibly Bioengineering.
  3. I like performing in circus shows. My favorite trick is juggling torches, while balancing on a rolling globe and reciting 100 digits of pi.
Continue reading The Intern Diaries →