A Brand-New Endeavor:

Internship Experience at Charter and Go

I am a college student, which has made my experience as an intern at Charter and Go unique and exciting.  My field is exactly what they were looking for when they hired me, but when I started working, I still had over two months to finish my degree.  That meant I’m adding a new part-time job on top of my other commitments.  Now, it is the year 2020, so most of my classes are part online, so while my schedule has looked free from the outside, I must be diligent to accomplish everything I need.

The experience is far different from anything I have experienced before and is only made more exciting because it is a startup company.  There have been some things that are easy and some that are more challenging; some experiences that me and my colleagues are comfortable with, and others that have required a little more research into the best way to tackle the problem.  

Because there’s not established rules and traditions from years of the company’s existence, there’s less I have needed to catch up on in my first few weeks.  This has meant I could jump right in and get a solid grasp on the company after only a short time working.  Thus, working at Charter and Go has been quite thrilling and much more dynamic than my previous internship over the summer.  It is a fantastic opportunity to work on real software in a way that wouldn’t have been possible elsewhere.  Every day, there’s new updates from at least one part of the company, and they usually have something to do with what I am doing.  It’s amazing to see the amount of responsibility that is put on my team, and the amount of responsibility that trickles down to me.  Not only does the knowledge I am gaining thrills me, but it also motivates me to get my work done.  It makes the whole experience more enjoyable because I know my effort really matters.

Every college class I have taken provides assignments and tests that are sometimes fun and sometimes not, and it’s sometimes difficult to see the bigger picture of what matters, beyond fulfilling a requirement for my degree.  Most work I do will be tossed to the wayside the day after it is graded, never to be cared about again.  But at Charter and Go, everything matters.  There simply isn’t enough time to even think about side projects that won’t matter in the grand scheme.  And because there is so much visibility into the company, I can see how my projects will affect other peoples’ work and the value we offer to our clients.

But the experience has not been without its challenges as well.  Not being able to meet up with any of my coworkers on a regular basis due to COVID is difficult, and while travel time goes away, it means I am constantly disciplining myself and partitioning off my day to ensure I give the right amount of effort to not only my work, but also my other commitments. 

In many ways, this isn’t as hard as it could be since we are a tech-oriented company.  We’re full of data scientists and computer programmers, so things like video calls are no problem for us.  The solutions we are working on are innovative and require much thought and some background knowledge to tackle properly.  It creates an interesting team dynamic where we’re all racing at breakneck speed to be ready on launch day, but also slowing down at the right times when we need to ask questions and gather more information.

We’re using many of the latest and most trusted technologies in our work.  Because the things we are doing are new and innovative, we have got to choose how we approached various problems.  What’s great about Charter and Go is that we can do this without a dozen layers of bureaucracy leaning over us, attempting to influence us on what to do.  It means we are more able to use technologies and styles that suited us and that we are more familiar with, but it also means there’s more responsibility on us to make the right decisions.

Regardless of what has been easy and what has not, I have learned so much already in my time at Charter and Go.  Many of the technologies I have worked with are ones I had little to no experience in beforehand, meaning there has been a steep learning curve for me, especially in the first few weeks.  But because of the obvious importance to what I am doing, I am motivated every step of the way to learn everything I can and build my skill set, not just to get a job done and to do it right on the first try.  Even when my work isn’t perfect, my peers, who all have different backgrounds and different skill sets, will pick me up and point me in the right direction.  They themselves are not tied down by requirements from up top, so they have the time to help me or each other when we need it. 

The team is always moving, so when I’m done with one project, there’s always another one waiting to be completed, which I know will come with its own challenges, excitement, and new experience I’m sure to gain from it.  Other times, some designs or specifications aren’t complete when I’m starting a project, so we are always updating each other on what we need and what information is available to us to complete what we’re working on.

Not only has my experience at Charter and Go been fruitful in my technological skills, but I have also learned much of how a company is run.  The work each person is doing is a significant part of the overall company, so each person is bringing valuable knowledge to our team meetings and all-company meetings.  It means that even an intern like me can hear much of everything that is going on just by attending those meetings.

Everything about my work at Charter and Go has provided me with an amazing experience.  Not everything has been easy, especially being a current student, but the uniqueness of the experience is something that will provide great value to me moving forward.  As I write this, I graduate in less than a month, so I will soon have more opportunities to apply the skills I have learned in college to the products we are developing.  This internship is proving to be both challenging and enjoyable, so I am eager to see how this unique opportunity plays out for me moving forward.

Peter Gossell – Front-End Developer Intern