This summer, on July 15, under the roof of our office, a team of 20 individuals embarked on a common journey and worked towards making others’ (train) journey a little more pleasant. Funnily enough, they didn’t know this at the time. Only we did.
How did it all start?
It begun with us having an awesome experience during our last internship. So we decided to repeat that, have a bunch of cool kids in our office, teaching them how to make their first mobile app and showing them what teamwork really means. For this, all we were still missing were passionate interns. So we went out to get them.
Well, sort of. We quickly got down to business, threw a few ideas around, combined some “Haha” with an “Aha” and made a humorous internship campaign that speaks their language.
This poster is only one of the many elements of the campaign. GIFs, videos, flyers, banners and personal conversations were all part of the gig, stirring the interest of almost 1k applicants (wow) from which we selected 20 very talented individuals for our summer internship.
Now that you have the context, we can go back to my intro phase: July 15, Halcyon Mobile office, 20 interns, 1 project. It’s time I tell you more about the latter.
Each year we try to mould the lessons we teach our interns into useful products. There were parcel delivery, time management and interview apps we created with them over the years. This time, we thought we’d embrace a project that serves an online solution to an offline problem many of us encountered when traveling by train.
Cluj is a wonderful city populated, amongst many, by students from all over the country and flooded by youngsters for festivals, so its train station turns into bee hives every once in awhile. Apart from a few prepared ones who buy their tickets online, everybody seems to step on someone’s toes wishing the misery of planning a trip, finding the right train that leaves at the right time, buying and validating the tickets would go away. We thought, solving these issues through an app would be a wonderful first ride and a common journey for our interns, not to mention a decent analogy for this article.
Thus, for 6 weeks, under the guidance of their mentors our Backend, iOS and Android interns learned and practiced so much they managed to finish the project and present us with a working prototype of the app that could simplify public railway transportation in Romania.
The time they spent with us was as fun as intense. We made sure their learning experience is flickered with game nights, leisure and team building activities inside and outside the office.
From the look of it, they had a good time with us, but we’d rather let them paint you a more authentic picture of their experience.
“I had a wonderful time during the java internship. I was pleasantly surprised by the way Halcyon Mobile welcomed us in their team and treated us like real colleagues right from the first day. I gained valuable skills and knowledge from this internship improving my preparation for this career field. I liked the fact that everybody was willing to explain to me even the simplest or silliest things. The other interns were great, we helped each other and we formed tight relationships, we became a true team.”
Maria – Java intern
“What I found in Halcyon mobile during my internship was a lot more than qualified developers. I found a multi talented group of people dedicated to making quality products and open to new ideas. It was an amazing learning experience, taking us through all of the steps of developing a product and letting us encounter problems, make decisions and find solutions by ourselves. Between this and the social activities, I can say that this is the best internship I have even been a part of.”
Ștefan – Java intern
“I have never thought that an internship could be so much fun. This experience taught me how to appreciate producing quality results, and it gave me the opportunity to meet a group of amazing people with whom teamwork came as a default. Being an intern at Halcyon involves a friendly environment, learning from the best, and the satisfaction of seeing that your hard work pays off. If you are looking for a summer filled with great people and challenges that are worth tackling, then you are in the right place!”
Bianca – Android intern
“Last summer was one of the best summer of my life and definitely this happened because I chose to join Halcyon team for an internship. Here I have learned what “teamwork” and professionalism really means, being surrounded by skilled and passionate people all the time. Besides the work, we get to know each other in the “team building” nights out or boardgames session. So, if you have the opportunity to be part of Halcyon Team, do it!”
Șerban – iOS intern
“I had a wonderful experience during the internship at Halcyon Mobile. It’s an awesome team, made up of great developers, who are always there to help, and being part of their team was a chance to improve my knowledge. I’ve learned what it means to develop a fully working product using the latest technologies and practices from the mentors, who carefully guided us in making the best decisions regarding the project we were working on. Everyone did their best to make us feel like home and it felt great to know that my opinion really matters.”
Alexandru – Java intern
All in all, we had a successful summer internship and managed to have yet another awesome experience. Our team and our interns have all chipped in to make this possible, and for this we’re especially grateful. Topping this will definitely be a challenge, but we learned a lot, laughed a lot and we’re ready to do it again…next year!
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