In May, we took two interns under our wing – Jagoda Pogorzelska and Bartek Grzegowski– from the Zespół Szkół Chłodniczych i Elektrycznych (School of Refrigeration and Electrical Engineering) in Gdynia, specializing in IT Technician. At the end of their internship, we asked them about their chosen specialization and how they enjoyed their internship in the Embedded Systems department.
1. Why did you decide to study at a technical school with a programming profile? Bartek: It seemed interesting.
Jagoda: This is something I want to pursue. I want to work as a programmer.
2. What interests you most in this field?
Bartek: Websites and full stack in general.
Jagoda: Creating mobile applications – something more in that direction.
3. Was there someone or something that influenced your choice of this path?
Bartek: More like something – specifically the Internet. I play a lot of games, and somehow that led to an interest in programming.
Jagoda: It was quite similar for me. There wasn’t any particular external factor – it was more my own decision. I wanted to create mobile apps, and also – computers, gaming – all of that drew me in.
4. What was your first day at the company like? What were your first impressions?
Bartek: I liked it, it was great. I was a little stressed since it was the first day, but overall it was fine. We were setting up our workstations – we had to install Linux and connect the laptops. Everything worked out, so it was cool.
Jagoda: At first, it was very stressful for me, but it quickly turned out that everything was really fine. I got a laptop and a small gift bag, which was super nice. There was also cake to welcome us – that made a big impression! When I was texting with my friends, they said they didn’t get that kind of welcome at their companies.
5. What projects or tasks did you work on during your internship?
Bartek: At the beginning, we were preparing our workstations. Later we learned Git – a tool used for collaboration between developers on larger projects. Now we’re working on the Bentos Info project.
Jagoda: I was responsible for designing and creating the website for the Bentos project.
6. What new things did you learn during the internship – both technical and soft skills?
Bartek: I learned a lot about WordPress. I came into the internship with zero knowledge, and now I can create a website on my own.
Jagoda: I mainly learned how to use Figma, a tool for designing websites. At first, I didn’t even know what it was and preferred to make my designs on paper. But during the internship, I learned how to use it. Now I know Figma is a great tool – I really recommend it!
7. Did you receive regular feedback and support from your mentor or the team?
Jagoda: Yes, we had meetings every two days where we discussed our progress and what could be improved. At first, they were general conversations, but over time they became more detailed analyses of our projects.
8. How would you rate the team atmosphere? Did you feel like part of the company?
Bartek: It was great. I don’t know about Jagoda, but I had no problem going out for lunch and talking to everyone one by one.
Jagoda: I think the fact that it’s a smaller group – 14 developers – was really nice. You could tell the team was close. For example, there was an outing on the first Friday of the month – we went for breakfast at Cały Gaweł. You can see they care about maintaining relationships here. Even though it’s a workplace, they still care about those bonds.
9. Was there a moment that particularly stood out to you?
Bartek: The moment after spending a day and a half on the hardest task I had – Jagoda gave me a new design that was even harder to implement!
Jagoda: He misunderstood my intentions! It actually wasn’t harder – more like easier. And as for the moment I remember the most, I think it’s every moment when something new happened. This was my first experience in a company like this. In the companies I know from my parents’ stories, there wasn’t this kind of relaxed atmosphere. It was more like, “You’re here, you have to be.” But here it’s different – of course, you sit for 6–7 hours, but if you leave 15 minutes early, it’s not the end of the world.
10. Did the internship influence your career plans?
Bartek: This internship really gave me a lot to think about. I’m considering switching my focus to cybersecurity.
Jagoda: I’d rather work in design. What I liked the most was that after the last meeting, I opened the first page with my very first design, and then looked at my older work from the start of the internship. I can see the difference between my first project and the final ones – I see a big improvement.
11. Would you recommend an internship at our company to other students? Why?
Bartek: Yes, absolutely. The atmosphere is great, no stress, there’s cereal in the morning, and you can make your own breakfast.
Jagoda: I also liked how on the first day, Janusz said he didn’t want the internship to be too difficult or tiring for us – he wanted us to learn something from it, and for the company to benefit too. There’s a really individual approach here. No one dumps tasks on you just because they don’t want to do them or because they’re too hard – everything was tailored to our skill level.
12. Do you have any advice for future interns?
Jagoda: Come here! Statistically, it’s one of the best companies. The stats come from me and my friends 😉
