We met with Miten Chauhan in Summer 2021, an Intermediate Software Developer and Sales Engineer from SaferMe who also happens to be Summer of Tech alumni from 2016 and 2017. He shared how he’s grown in the tech industry, what he learnt from being a mentor, what his mentees taught him, and advice on entering the field.

When and where did you intern? What was your role?

I went through the Summer of Tech programme twice, once in 2016 and in 2017 at Aviat as a front-end web engineer. The year after that, I had an internship at SaferMe. They offered me a permanent position at the end of my placement, and I’m still here today!

How did having an internship influence your career journey?

Aviat Networks was a bigger company, so I got experience working for a big company with more structure and hierarchy. SaferMe was more of a startup, so I interacted with everyone and enjoyed not being in such a closed bubble of my own team. I got to work with people in other teams and freely have conversations in an open way. 

What was the transition from study to work like for you?

We had a summer project, so it sometimes felt like I was going into uni working on an assignment but in a work environment. Other responsibilities came up, too. After the internship, I transitioned to being a general developer. I went from working on my own project to working on a team. 

How did you grow?

During the transition, I took on many more responsibilities over time and gradually became a more confident developer. I started managing the web platform - releases, documentation, and guidelines for devs. I picked up other responsibilities in the workplace, including working on products and working with designers.

It didn’t happen overnight - it happened bit by bit, over time. When I became a mentor and planned what my mentee would be doing over the summer, I realised her day-to-day was essentially what mine was at the beginning. 

My growth in the role happened very organically. I’m lucky that SaferMe had the sort of environment where I could do that.

What have you learned from being a mentor?

How much I’ve personally grown in the company since I started as an intern. Over time, I thought I was the same person - but working with younger people making their way into the industry made me realise I’ve learned a lot and grown a lot during my time here. It has also been nice to give back and help interns with an opportunity I once had. 

What did you learn from your mentors?

The difference between APIs and front-end - I learned a lot about software in general, and I’ve realised that front-end dev isn’t 100% what I want to be doing. I wanted to be a full-stack developer and develop a full solution by myself. I still get to work with my mentors today!

What is your top tip for a student interviewing for an internship?

Be open in terms of talking about yourself. Not everything in the conversation has to be about the job or your skills. Lots of people are looking for a culture fit - and that’s getting more and more common. 

What advice would you give a student entering the workforce?

Work hard, and don’t be scared of getting things wrong. That’s how you learn the most - when you fail. 

What helped you get over failure?

I tried my hardest to solve the problem - I spent lots of time researching and asking others questions around me. When you are early on in your career, you have to ask questions. 

What’s next for you?

Keep climbing the ranks, I’m getting better as a developer, but I’d like to move more towards being a product manager, looking at all the other processes before it comes to a developer. Into more of a leadership role. 

Miten has since become a Senior Developer and Product Owner.