To celebrate #NationalInternDay, we sat down to chat virtually with two of our co-op students, Victoria and Jayson, to discuss their terms with us so far. We touched on their favourite projects, how they’ve adjusted to the remote working experience, and what they’re looking forward to in the months ahead.
Victoria
“When you’re working with your team, whether you fail or succeed, everyone takes it with you,” she explained. “The pressure isn’t just on one person. It’s a place where you can really grow with the team and the company.”
After a year of online school, Victoria joined her team remotely. The skills she learned during that year of online studies allowed her to quickly adapt to her new role.
“I think the fact that I’ve already gone through the initial shock of going online kind of helped me,” she said. “Obviously the work environment is totally different, but I think it helped that I’m already used to having Zoom calls all day long. Working online is challenging, especially going into a new industry, because of how much you’re learning.”
Despite the challenges of the virtual work environment, Victoria noted that her team has helped make the transition a bit easier.
“Everyone on my team goes above and beyond,” she said. “They all help out to make sure that I know what’s going on. If I need any help, I know that I can reach out to them. They’ve helped to make it a smooth process.”
Victoria explained that while she was still in school, she did not know what she wanted to do. Her co-op position has allowed her to explore a new industry and a new passion for global business.
“I feel like the most exciting thing for me is being a part of a company that does such big things,” she explained. “It’s not something I ever really imagined doing. There’s a big learning curve, but it’s also very rewarding. I learn something new about the company and security every day.”
One of the most exciting parts of her co-op experience has been working on large agreements and meeting new colleagues across the company. Three months into her sixteen-month placement, Victoria says she’s looking forward to growing in her role and building her confidence as she works on more projects.
Jayson
“This is actually my second time doing a co-op with General Dynamics,” Jayson explained. “My first time was really interesting because that’s when COVID hit. We figured it out the second time around. I went in to go get my equipment. It was pretty easy, and people knew what was going on.”
Originally having graduated from Algonquin College with a degree in Business Administration and Marketing, Jayson realized that he wanted to pursue something different. Changing focus, Jayson went back to school to attend Carleton University’s computer science program in the stream of software engineering.
“I have an interest in lower-level languages within university, particularly system level languages like C and C++,” he said. “This position seemed to work in those languages, so I really wanted to see it in action and get some experience.”
Jayson has enjoyed working in a fast-paced, hands-on environment. Going into his co-op experience, he was worried that the projects would just keep him busy. He quickly learned that he would be actively involved in some of the company’s major ongoing projects.
“They threw me right onto the main project because I did fairly well on my first assignment,” he explained. “I’ve been doing regular tickets, pulling from the same queue that every other software developer is. I’m asking for help and learning as I go. It’s a really nice experience. It’s challenging, but it’s challenging in a great way.”
Looking ahead, Jayson is excited for new experiences and opportunities to learn.
“We’re switching gears to another project soon, which means I get to see a bit more of a process that I’m not used to seeing. There’s a lot of things being worked out on it and that’s a really exciting thing to be a part of.”
