I’ve recently passed the halfway point of my placement year at Glue Reply, and wanted to share some insights I’ve gained so far, bit by bit.
Placement Tip #1
Proactivity is crucial - Coming from an academic background, it’s easy to default to work and opportunities being handed to you on a plate, but in reality the best ones come from showing an active interest and getting stuck in
~ An anecdote:
Speaking up on my second ever Standup call got me involved in a website redevelopment project in React, helped me to meet and work with lots of new people within my company, and also gave me an opportunity to display ownership and present the new website live in our company meeting at the end of the month!
Prior to this project I had been more backend-focused at uni (Django, Java, etc.), however I didn’t allow this to be a limiting factor and volunteered myself anyway. Interestingly it was through getting involved here that I was able to broaden my horizons and get a better understanding of Front-end development.
Was it tricky at first? Of course, this is the case with most things. However, that aspect is arguably the most important, as the relief and feeling of accomplishment after solving a bug or implementing a feature is unmatched.
My advice - don’t let the difficulty of a task prevent you from harvesting the rewards of the possible growth it can grant you.