At ESW, we’re looking for technology and business graduates who can bring a fresh perspective to technology and product innovation. Our 18-month graduate program offers a unique ecommerce experience and the opportunity to dive right in, working with some of the world’s biggest brands from day one.
We offer amazing benefits, tailored learning and development opportunities, as well as the chance to learn from and work alongside the brightest tech and product innovators in the industry. Over the coming weeks, we’ll be chatting with some of our 2019 graduates and sharing their experiences with you.
So Sana, tell us a little about yourself?
I studied Computing at the National College of Ireland and am currently a Graduate Developer working within full-stack development.
Tell us a little about your average day in ESW?
Typically, I start my day reviewing any pending “Pull Requests” (which are essentially any code changes fellow developers would like to make in the main codebase).
Then we usually share our individual updates with the team in a daily meeting called “stand-up”. This helps us raise any issues or concerns we might be facing, and this also ensures we’re on the right track to get our tasks completed in time.
Recently I’ve been trying to maintain notes with an action plan, or any testing strategies related to each work item so that when I’m trying to code the ‘solution’ I can take these into consideration.
For the rest of my day, I am either implementing the solutions to the ‘tickets’ assigned to me or I am collaborating with the rest of my team through meetings to discuss future tickets in the pipeline or current solution strategies.
I particularly enjoy discussing these solutions with other developers so that we can try and come up with the most effective implementation and learn from each other along the way.
What skills/technologies have you picked up since you started?
I’ve had the opportunity to work in several teams since I started- each focusing on an entirely different domain within the company.
Because of this, I have gained exposure to both front-end and back-end technologies (as well as a bit of QlikView within Business Intelligence!).
We typically use an Angular and .NET framework stack within ESW, and so I feel most comfortable with these technologies.
Due to the shift towards continuous integration/continuous delivery, I have also been able to familiarize myself with Azure DevOps and creating (and maintaining) builds and releases.
There is a ton of opportunity to learn within ESW and no two tasks are entirely the same- because of this I feel like I am learning something new every single day and constantly feel like I’m evolving!
Tell us about the culture in ESW?
I’ve noticed that everyone’s opinions are valued, regardless of how long they’ve been here. While working in my previous team I noticed that some of the tasks could be automated. Since I’m lacking in experience, I was able to implement a few bits, so I asked my manager for suggestions on the rest. As soon as I expressed the idea to my manager, the idea took off to a whole new level. Not only did he help with the implementation and point out gaps I’d missed before, but he also involved every team he felt could add value to the project, had communicated the idea to every possible stakeholder and set me up with all the tools I needed to bring this to life! I felt extremely supported and gained so much from that project. Looking back, I’ve been able to carry so many new skills from that project with me and this makes me feel extremely grateful for the opportunity.
For all the teams involved to be so open to new ideas, for my manager to be this supportive; the willingness to embrace change by everyone involved. I feel this example perfectly illustrates our company culture.
What have you enjoyed the most about the program so far?
Last year I participated in the internship and am currently in the graduate program. My answer to this question remains the same. The mentors here are truly incredible!
I have learned so much about different approaches to the same technical problem and the why’s and the how’s. I have always felt supported and guided in the right direction and have always felt comfortable approaching my mentor.
That passion for building solutions and maintaining the highest standard certainly gets passed on, and this is what makes the program here so special!
Has the experience so far helped define your career plan from here?
I’ve always known that my passion lies in software but my experience with the company has helped me be sure of it!
What advice would you give to graduates looking for their first professional role?
I’d highly recommend doing plenty of research on both the company as well as the role. This could vary from company ethics and company culture to the actual product itself and the industry it’s in as well as the tech stack (if you’re aiming to be a developer).
Applications for our 2020 Graduate Programme will close on Friday 17th January. So, if you are want to work in ecommerce – whether it’s as a developer, product manager or security engineer – ESW is the place to start!
