In the spirit of going back to school, we decided it was the best time to share a little bit about our co-op student who spent the last eight months working with us at IC.
Houman is a Computer Systems and Technology student at the British Columbia Institute of Technology (BCIT) here in the lower mainland. A very bittersweet moment for us at IC this September, as Houman had to go back to school to finish his degree. He was an amazing person to have on the development team and he will be greatly missed. To celebrate his time at IC, we decided to interview Houman about his experience at IC to give our readers more insights on what it is like to be a co-op student here!
1. What was your role at IC?
“I was brought on as part of the Quality Assurance Team – basically means that I test anything being built to make sure it works properly.”
2. What was your favourite part about co-oping at IC?
“Definitely the people. I felt that as soon as I showed up, everyone was friendly and welcoming. I truly felt like I was part of the team and made some amazing connections that I will hold on to forever.”
3. How do you feel this experience helped support you in your career?
“I believe this experience has helped launch me forward in my career both professionally and educationally. At IC I was challenged with always having to think ahead and really be proactive about problems. This is especially important when creating software. I learned a lot about finding ways to solve problems flexibly and creatively.”
“Overall, this position was a great point of view for what is to come. After this, I feel more ready than ever to take on the next year of school, and whatever comes my way after that. Not to mention that I feel a lot more confident in what I’m studying after having worked in the field for a little while.”
4. What is one highlight or fond memory you will have about this experience?
“Honestly, our end of second quarter event, axe throwing. It was a lot of fun, not only because I won but because you really get to see a side of people that you don’t always see in the office. Everyone was cheering each other on which was great too. Other than that, in general all of the other social events that IC has outside of work was an awesome way to truly feel more part of team, and that is especially important when coming in as a co-op student.”
5. How do you feel you’ve improved your hard skills since being at IC?
“The amount of knowledge I gained in all of the different possibilities of tools was super valuable. Not only was I introduced to them in a real-world environment, but I will also be using these tools in school this year and having had experience with them will make things a lot easier.”
“I also learned how to automate scripts and tasks to help save time alongside some versioning tools that help you keep track of your work. “
6. What was the most beneficial challenge you faced while at IC?
“Well, in my program at BCIT they don’t teach you much about QA, so naturally there was steep learning curve with the knowledge I had and the position I was in. I really didn’t know anything when I started but because the team is so great, I always felt like I could ask questions which made the world of a difference. Specifically, Leandro and Nick were always super open to answering my questions and never made me feel dumb, so thanks so much for that guys!”
7. If you had to describe this experience in one sentence what would you say?
“Fulfilling, educational, fun, eye opening, finding order in chaos and then learning from it.”
8. Anything else you’d like to add?
“IC is extremely welcoming. One of the things that stood out to me the most was the amount of international diversity in its employees. This was a big differentiator with IC and other companies for sure. IC also really focuses on the people that work there and that is something that you don’t find at every company. I feel really lucky to have made such amazing connections at IC.”
Interested in becoming a co-op student for IC Thrive? Don’t be aftraid to reach out and contact us!
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