Loading...When you think of the best learning method for a young professional, what is the first thing that springs to your mind? Experience-based learning, am I right? PentaStagiu IT internship was all about it! As final modules have been recently completed, we have a chance to retrospect.
Passionate about IT professionals gathered together in one place with a common goal: to discover the practical side of one of the 10 available tracks and strengthen skills in this field.
Making a Step Towards the Dream Career in the IT World!
PentaStagiu was divided into tracks for all tastes and aptitudes:
- .NET
- Android
- BA
- Front-End
- JAVA
- PHP
- QA
- QA Automation
- SM
- SWIFT
It is worth mentioning that PentaStagiu 2019 registered the highest number of applicants along with approximately 50 mentors getting involved in the program.
Regardless of the subject, participants appreciated the possibility to join:
- Theoretical presentations
- Interactive workshops
- Assessments for independent activities
- Tests
Each track was different and unique in its way. Why so? Well, the topics discussed required a particular approach. Java is utterly different from Business Analyses in terms of both soft & hard skills needed for the job, as well as daily tasks professionals in this field solve regularly.
The Record Edition of the Pentalog IT Internship: This is How We Roll
To get a closer look at what we managed to implement during this free 20-week intensive IT program, I decided to talk to our track coordinators. I intended to see the program through their eyes first.
Alexandru P., a talented Java Developer at Pentalog Iasi, happens to be the mastermind behind the Java track. Participants of this section of the IT internship met once a week for remote and local presentations. One mentor was responsible for 5 interns. This way, mentors with their teams of interns held a review session weekly to analyze topics of the previous week.
As Frederick Douglass once said: “If There Is No Struggle, There Is No Progress”. PentaStagiu interns occasionally encountered difficulties, for example, Java mentees struggled with GIT concepts or it was a little bit complicated for BA students to grasp the idea of flow diagrams. To clear things out mentors tried to come up with many examples deriving from actual projects.
Being a mentor might seem pretty easy. As a matter of fact, it requires both dedication & commitment. The Java track instructors dedicated 3-4 hours per week to this activity. In the same time, mentors had to express their ideas in a clear & simple manner. Each mentor’s passion, intuition and vision spiced up the process, bringing more colors into the learning process, according to Alexandru.
In addition to technical tracks, we also had something different for those who are interested in the Product Owner’s role. This track was coordinated by Emil-Costel O., a skilled Product Owner at Pentalog. During sessions, mentors made an introduction to:
- Business Analyses
- Development frameworks (Agile, Waterfall)
- Product Ownership: building a business case, elicitation techniques, creating wireframes, prioritizing techniques
- Soft Skills Topics
This year, participants of the Business Analyses track assimilated information very well thanks to our mentors who made interactive and comprehensible presentations. We can easily affirm that our interns were the biggest highlight of the program. Emil-Costel O. was happy to see that participants were eager to help each other, moreover, they were utilizing their free time for learning.
Wrapping Up the PentaStagiu 2019, an IT Internship with a Hint of Adventure
In the end, it was compelling to see how the agenda of the IT internship was perceived by everyone involved. We always try to collect detailed information regarding all aspects of the events that were held. It usually helps us to get a better general view on our results, this kind of feedback contributes to the improvement of the following editions.
“I applied to PentaStagiu thanks to one of my college friends and I’m gonna be forever grateful for his suggestion. It was an experience that I will never forget. I had my initial assessments on what a BA does, but PentaStagiu took it to another level.
The course was really well-built, with well-structured layers of information easy enough for us to harness. Constant feedback was really important for me to improve and grow.
I appreciated the open knowledge-sharing sessions regarding Agile thinking and interview tricks. The last module allowed me to work with a real team as a real-life experience. This was the best kick-start of my career as a BA I could have hoped for.” Alexandra
On the other hand, our intern Bogdan applied to PentaStagiu to get a better understanding of what it was like working in a big company. He wanted to know what technologies we were using, types of methodologies we applied, and how the work process takes place.
“Even though I had no previous experience in Android development, mentors structured information to make it clear to us. I liked the way we were welcomed at the beginning of the 4th Module. This warmth made me want to continue our collaboration in the future”, told us Bogdan.
What can we say? We feel the same thing about all our interns and really hope to work side-by-side one day!
Seeing each mentee’s evolution is the biggest reward we can get.
“Now I own techniques for identifying business needs, I can create and present a business case and I even learned how to ask the right questions.
Self-learning, how to do proper research and “outside the box” thinking are some of the skills I have developed in these 4 months and will surely help me in the future. PentaStagiu opens you a door to the immense world of IT.” Ionut
If you missed it, don’t worry we have some cool stuff coming up soon! Stick around to join our events & programs!
To know what to expect, take a look at our previous projects:
