Each year, Power Go welcomes an intern from a Canadian university to join our development team. At Power Go, interns are not just passive observers — they take on the role of a developer and actively participate in every stage of the development cycle: from planning to production, including development and the creation of automated tests.
What truly sets our internship program apart is that interns’ contributions are quickly put to use by our clients. There’s no working alone on internal projects that are forgotten after the internship ends. Our interns become part of a dynamic team, and their features are put into production just days after they arrive.
Recently, we had the chance to interview Melody Nadeau, a software engineering student at Polytechnique Montréal and an intern at Power Go during the summer of 2024. Here’s what she had to say about her experience with our team.
How were you welcomed by your team and supervisor?
Melody: As soon as my internship was confirmed, I received clear information about how it would be structured and what to expect on my first day. When I arrived, most of the team was in the office to welcome me. My onboarding was very well-organized — I received guidance on setting up my computer and learning to use the different tools and applications used at Power Go. Morning meetings and an off-site event during my first few weeks also helped me integrate quickly into the Power Go family.
Can you describe a typical day during your internship?
Melody: My day typically starts with a short morning meeting with the entire team. After that, I usually have one or two meetings with my internship supervisor to ask questions and set my next tasks. For the rest of the day, I work on programming features for Power Go’s various products, whether it’s on the backend or the frontend.
The complexity of my tasks gradually increased as my internship progressed. Our development process follows two-week iterations, with demos and goal-setting sessions during planning meetings. Every two weeks, I also took part in workshops with the development team to discuss new product components.
What skills did you acquire or improve during your internship?
Melody: I learned to use new technologies like Django and Vue, and I developed tools to better understand and navigate the codebase. I also became more familiar with the iteration process and improved my version control skills with Git.
I’ve learned to organize my pull requests and structure my code more efficiently. I’ve also started developing the ability to explain technical tasks in simpler terms during meetings with employees from other departments, although I’m still working on mastering this skill.
What did you enjoy most about your overall internship experience?
Melody: What I appreciated the most was being treated as a full member of the team. I was assigned interesting programming tasks and had the opportunity to participate in different types of meetings, like workshops. It was clear that Power Go cared about my learning experience and took the time to support me.
I had the chance to be involved in every part of the development process — from backend to frontend, including testing and deployment. I also had unique opportunities as an intern, like participating in the Grand Défi Pierre Lavoie and an off-site event dedicated to developing a new feature and team-building.
A huge thank you to the entire Power Go team for this incredible internship experience! It was truly a pleasure to work with such a dynamic team.