Hey! This is very special for me. I got my first apprenticeship opportunity. This post is a brief up about how I got into this and what is my experience so far. Let's start from the beginning :)
Prologue
I was in the last semester of my undergraduation and the placement offers that I had were not actually what I always wanted. And it wasn't everything about money, it was more about that I wanted to be a part of a company that practices all those updated development standards and tools that I have been learning since past years as part of my open source contributions.
So, here I was. At the end of the course and searching for a company that meets my need. I was ready to join as an intern as I did understand that I don't have enough hands on practice in Backend development that I could land in a company at a full-time dev directly. In this search, Fueled Technologies Pvt. Ltd. was already on my list as I knew about the company from a project that I had contributed to on GitHub and I also attended open source meetups in their office around 2 years back.
The application
When I went on to see their job listing. I was more than glad to see the open position for a backend apprentice! Hurray! It was exactly what I wished for. But I didn't applied for the post then and there itself. As we were shifting our place and I wanted to apply in peace and with preparations. So within a week when things were smooth on my side, I updated my resume and personal website content and applied from their website directly (without any intermediate platform like linkedin, etc).
The application experience was staightforward and simple.
The response
When I applied it was notified that we'll get back to you within 3 working days. But it was more than 1 week and I had almost lost my hope. I think after 2 weeks I got an email from Fueled stating that they would like to talk with me first on a phone call. It was like a usual phone call screening. And that was surprising for me to know. Because I wasn't expecting the response anymore.
Anyway, the application ride had been started and a lot more twists and turns were about to come that I couldn't forsee then.
The process
The process was very refined starting with the application fillup that included uploading my resume, CV, and techs that I feel comfortable working with. Then the phone call screening was intended to understand that how much the candidate is serious about joining the company, etc. This was followed by a technical interview that included questions which were more focussed on concepts and foundational knowledge, rather than giving complex coding answers related to DS and Algo.
I was glad that the interview was not like those typical technical interview where we are given questions to solve to check our DS and Algo skills. Instead, the idea was to analyze weather the candidate likes software development, how much experience it has as a student, does it has foundational knowledge and a will to learn.
The first technical interview was taken by a Sr. Backend Engineer and a Lead Backend Engineer. After this, a second technical interview was scheduled with the Director of web engineering. When the date arrived, due to some reasons it was skipped and I got forwared to the last interview with their Lead Talent Acquisition. This went also great! Questions were mainly related to weather I was expecting a joining offer from another company or weather I am currently working in a company (if any).
At the end of this last interview, they informed me then and there itself that I got selected for the position and as my final exams were going on those days. We later discussed my joining date and compensation.
Epilogue
Once I got selected, they sent me an official offer letter for signing the contract and informed me about the other formalities needed to get onboarded. So it went like, my final btech exams ended in October first week and I joined the company in the second week. Pretty smooth transition!
Overall, the entire selection process from application submission till date of joining was 7 weeks long. And this got merged with my final btech exams that made it more dramatic and thrilling for me. I enjoyed both the selection and the onboarding process!
The journey so far
It is now 3 months that I have been working here as an apprentice and already feeling a lot more confident in backend development and a lot more professional than before. I got to know how work is done in an organization, how to collaborate in a team, and dozens of other stuffs! I learned new technologies that I didn't work with before. And I read a lot of assigned material. I worked on a practice project to try out things that I learned.
In a nut shell, I wanted to get a feel of working in an organization like Fueled and that got fulfilled. I wanted to enhance my Backend development skills that have been improved of course.
This job is very special for me as it is my first one! :) And secondly, it has everything that I ever wanted in my organization. Currently, my apprenticeship is going on remotely, let's see where this journey will led me to.
Thank you very very much to all!
Catch up my introduction on the Fueled's website here: Shiva Saxena