Globalization Partners, the leading global employment platform that simplifies remote team building by making it fast and easy for companies to hire anyone, anywhere within minutes, launched its very first global internship program here in Galway in spring 2021.
Four interns were chosen from the applications received and joined the software development team for their 13-week paid program in May 2021. Each of the graduates had recently completed their studies in GMIT and their experience with Globalization Partners began by logging on to their laptop with three key goals: challenge yourself, make a difference, and have fun.
This programme was unique in several ways, firstly, it was the first internship programme run by Globalization Partners, a company with a ten-year history in technological innovation with team members and customers in over 180 countries globally. Secondly, the internship would be in Galway and run-in partnership with GMIT. Thirdly, this would be a remote internship, allowing the graduates to work with teams and colleagues all over the world and across multiple time zones and practice areas.
The interns were led remotely by two senior software engineers from the Globalization Partners European technology headquarters in Galway. Perhaps the biggest challenge at the outset was the idea of a remote internship. It was important that the interns and the mentors found the experience rewarding and that it was as close to an in-person internship programme as possible. The mentors were mindful of creating those precious everyday learning opportunities, so the interns got to shadow more than one person regularly and were exposed to new technology frequently.
Jennifer Jarnstrom, one of the Globalization Partners mentors said, “We helped interns build their network and see what potential future career opportunities might be open to them through weekly ‘meet and greet’ meetings. Via Zoom, they were connected to professionals working in quality assurance, project management, devops, management, and other technical departments. These meetings allowed them to discuss what a working day looked like, as well as details on routes taken to achieve their chosen careers.”
While the interns missed the traditional “water cooler moments,” they experienced first-hand virtual meetings with access to a team spanning four continents. When asked about this specifically, many cited this as a positive, as they were invited to virtually attend meetings and join team sessions that otherwise may not have been open to them. This allowed them to observe firsthand many aspects of the development and management of a hyper growth, leading global technology company in action.
“Even though we just graduated, we all found that we had so much more to learn,” agreed Sagheer Ahmad. “The team gave us so many opportunities to work hands-on in a production environment with cutting-edge technology where we got to not only implement -- but expand on the knowledge gained in college. This was crucial in drawing our awareness to the importance of the industry standards and best practices expected of a professional software developer.”
Globalization Partners plans to continue to develop this internship in 2022 with the addition of new educational institutions and more graduate opportunities. Further information and internship postings will be available soon on the Globalization Partners website at: globalization-partners.com or connect with us via Twitter, LinkedIn, Facebook, or check out their Blog.
