Moving from Intern to Full-Time Contract in Software Engineering
I’m Natasha and recently moved from being an intern to a permanent role. A few more steps and I will also have my bachelor degree in software engineering from University of Kuala Lumpur, Malaysian Institute of Information Technology (MIIT) in my pocket.
“Continental is way bigger than expected.”
When I was searching for internship opportunities I found Continental via my location filter. I did some research and found many nice reviews on the work environment, so I applied. I knew that Continental is big, but only later I step by step realized how huge it really is. In our IT team we are around 90, in total Malaysia already more than 1,800 and worldwide almost 200,000 employees.
Interns are an integral part of the team
During studies I learned Java, but my favorite and self-taught language is python. During my internship I also started in C#. As I knew from my way to Python I can learn another coding language via self-studies and so I was not afraid of taking the challenge. As before I did it with video tutorials working on real code at the same time. In addition I took the chance sitting with experts to ask questions and learn from them.
Currently I’m working on a project within ContiOnlineContact where I support the mobile development and monitor the performance. During the internship I was mostly involved in testing, but recently I started with debugging and I’m quite passionate about it. Of course there are tasks to fulfill, but I also have a lot of room for learning and growing and I’m asked what I’m interested in. My voice is heard.
What I enjoy most is that the colleagues treat me like a colleague, not like an intern as I experienced before. I’m a part of the team and the projects and do my part to make it successful.
Team building as a great place to get to know everyone of the big team
Treated like a team member I was invited to the team building event which was great fun. Among other things we created a painting all together. I remember how surprised the colleagues have been about me being so energetic and open-minded not serving the old-fashioned cliché of a headscarf. Message to all: Question your biases 😊.
Malaysia is a very diverse country and so is our team. We take care of each other and all individual circumstances of all kinds are considered. That makes the work environment very comfortable and enjoyable. In the office it is usually very silent, although we work in an open space. Everyone takes their work very seriously, but in between and especially in events like team building there is a lot of room for fun.
Learning my lesson on prioritization
My biggest lesson so far was to learn prioritization. My boss showed me how to do it right and in a transparent way after I got to a situation where I was overwhelmed with tasks. I used to always say “yes” to everything and had to experience the hard way how it feels like when the straw breaks the camel’s back. Here I receive support on my learning journey as everyone knows: nobody can do everything perfectly right from the start of her working life.
Welcome to our office
Fun fact: Did you know that Con-ti in Malaysia is a specific room in a house? Now you do.
As the office is pretty and I did not find pictures of it when I was searching for them I will do the job and share them with you now:
