Welcome back to our “From Intern to Employee” blog series! The past weeks, we have heard incredible stories from our employees who began their journey with Bicom Systems as students.
Bicom Systems collaborates with students and universities to offer exclusive internships. The internships allow students to work one-on-one with developers and learn from their expertise. Visit our blog to catch up on previous cases or click them below.
Case #1 – Semir Omerović, Associate Software Engineer
Case #2 – Lejla Hodžić, Software Developer
Case #3 – Asmir Selimovic, Associate Software Engineer
Today, I would like to introduce you to Ermin Katardzic! In March 2015, while continuing his studies in Software Engineering, Ermin became one of the first interns at Bicom Systems. Over a year and a half later, after graduation, Ermin became an official Bicom Systems employee as a Software Developer.
Keep reading to learn why Ermin chose software and Bicom Systems in this Q&A! He also lends his advice for future interns and shares links to helpful resources.
Tell me about your journey from Intern to Employee.
“The very first task I had as an intern was to install Gentoo from scratch. We now joke around that that was a trial by fire. I spent the next year working on PBXWare, doing my best not to crash Asterisk with my patches. (Ha!) There was an opportunity during my internship to join the SWITCHware team, so I did and spent the next year learning about SIP Protocol and Kamailio. Somewhere along the way, I became an official employee.”
What are you working on now?
“Right now, I am working on a new project! You will all soon know more about it, but for now, it is called ‘gloCOM Meeting’. I mainly work on the back end systems of gloCOM Meeting because I am deathly afraid of HTML and any front end work.”
Why IT? Why Software?
“I’ve spent most of my life tinkering with (and occasionally breaking) computers. When it came time to choose a career, software development seemed like a natural choice.”
Why did you choose to do an internship at Bicom Systems?
“My friend Robert and I got an unexpected offer to be the first interns at Bicom Systems while we were still full-time students! It was the first time we heard about the SIP protocol, Asterisk or anything else telecommunications related. But, it seemed like a whole new world of technology to explore (with very capable people to guide us through it) so the natural thing to do was to accept it.”
Describe what a typical day looks like for you.
“My day begins with a strong coffee and a standup meeting with my team and our project manager. We go over what we’ve done the day before, any technical difficulties we faced and our plans for the current day. It gives us an opportunity to sync up and give our input on various tasks. Usually, there’s no strict structure after that. I do my tasks, help the interns, review their code, attend meetings and conferences if necessary, etc.”
What website or resources would you recommend for people in this industry?
“Looking at my opened browser tabs, I’m mostly combing through the Golang documentation. I am usually searching for solutions to issues on StackOverflow or learning something new. Right now, I am following the ‘Learn You Some Erlang’ tutorial, and I wholeheartedly recommend it!”
What project have you been most excited to be a part of and why?
“At the moment, I’m most excited about the gloCOM Meeting project. It is the first project that I’ve been an integral part of from start to finish and I can’t wait to see it in production!”
Do you have any advice for future interns or people thinking of applying for an internship?
“An internship is the perfect opportunity to kickstart your professional growth early. It has the ability to set you up for later in life. It would be smart to take it if you can.”
If you want to learn more about our internship programs, look at our website or send us an email to hr@bicomsystems.com.
Do you have any more questions for Ermin? Or about Bicom Systems internships? Comment below!