Editor’s Note: In 2020, Perficient acquired Brainjocks, a leading digital consultancy with a strong Sitecore platform focus. This blog post predates the acquisition.
Working for BrainJocks was definitely one of the best experiences I’ve had. Going through college you get so caught up in taking classes and getting grades that you never think of what life is going to be like after you get a job, and I think BrainJocks has spoiled me. When I got here I felt welcome in this laid-back atmosphere filled to the brim with the sound of computers and the glare of monitors. I was treated like a part of the team from day one and was included in as many aspects of the company as they could fit me in for my short period of time there. The workload was slow to start, I had to wait for paperwork to go through and for my multiple accounts for the company’s resources to become available, but once set up I hit the ground running.
For my first assignment, my partner-in-crime Emily, and I were introduced to the world of Quality Assurance immediately and we were told to test one of the biggest projects the company was working on at the time. We were given plenty of leeway and simply asked to break the site in any way we could, and then we were given instruction on how to report such broken aspects. Not once though did I feel as though I didn’t have some backup if I got lost. Our immediate boss, Eric R., was always happy to answer questions and encouraged lots of back and forth talk on what we found and how we should go about our tasks.
Later I was given a solo project for my second assignment. I was put in charge of researching automated testing and was told to get something working as quickly as possible. This is where I felt the most comfortable, coding in front of a computer. I made some progress and was always able to get help from the team when I needed it. Multiple times I got stuck on an issue due to my lack of knowledge on the subject or the code itself but was given the time and help needed to overcome it, and I was always praised for my accomplishments.
I got to sit in on meetings as a part of the team and was shown the respect that everyone else was given. I never felt that there was a wall between intern and full-time employee. The office was open and encouraged inter-working between departments. I shadowed a few employees from different departments to see what jobs were like around the entire company and not just in QA. Learning about the developer’s responsibilities and how they completed them was a great eye opener to life after college. Learning how the Project Managers handled all the tasks and time for projects gave me great insight into teamwork, which is essential for engineers. The whole team here does great work and they have taught me so much. This Internship was a great opportunity and I am extremely grateful to team at BrainJocks for giving me a shot.
This was written by Keith Russ.