Week 11. Post 2.

What could be the implications of what you learned from this experience for your future work career?

One of the biggest implications of this internship experience for me has been becoming certain about my decision of having a software engineering career after graduation. Before the internship, I did not feel confident in my skills and sometimes doubted whether I wanted to work in the industry. This industry always felt intimidating and it seemed like only super smart people will be able to get in there. However, in this internship I learned that as long as you have eagerness to learn - you are good. 

Moreover, because I got a better understanding of the industry through my internship, I feel a lot more prepared to transition to a full-time job. The fact that I know what life as a full-time engineer is going to be like from first-hand experience gives me peace of mind.

In addition to this, another thing that I learned in this internship is that getting a master's or a PhD degree is actually beneficial in your career. One might think that you do not need grad school for CS, however, I realized it is not true. Grad school in CS opens more opportunities in the future and leads to a potential increase in the salary and career. 

Lastly, I learned that software engineering is not the only career I can pursue in the tech industry. I can always switch to other roles and a master’s degree is especially going to be useful in these cases as well.