We met with Ed Letifov, the CFO, CTO, and co-Founder at TechTime, to get his take on hiring interns. He talks about the value interns bring, how interns have shaped TechTime and shares some hot tips on how to wow employers during an interview.

Is this your first time hiring interns?

We’ve been hiring from Summer of Tech since 2013. We’ve also had experience with interns from other organisations. Summer of Tech has always been good, and the experience too. In many occurrences, the interns have stayed on with us past the initial internship. 

Why do you hire interns? 

Interns are much more driven by learning. They are open to learning our processes, and our approaches, it’s not only about theoretical knowledge anymore. It’s about what the business needs. 

It’s just easier!

What did you look for in an intern?

Ownership (if not necessarily “leadership”) - being able to say no,if needed, even to the company owner. It’s valuable when someone is convinced enough to argue with you. Ownership comes with awareness and that enables interns to make decisions without waiting to be told what to do.

We aren’t big enough to ‘herd’ juniors effectively or efficiently, so we look for people who can take ownership over their tasks and be able to lay out how they think it should be done, ready to execute.

Active ownership - listen to me, then make it yours. Suggest alternatives, question and engage. That’s what we are looking for. 

How has hiring an intern helped your business?

Most of our successes on the product side of our business as Atlassian Marketplace Vendor have come from interns. Software development often happens in surges; in our case most of such surges have been fueled by interns who were hired over  successive summers. A year later, the result of such a surge becomes a product on the marketplace. Interns have been a true recipe for success for us. 

The role of interns at TechTime is huge. There are currently 23 people in the organisation, 6 current interns and 5 more of our employees have had previous intern experience. Most of our mid-level employees are from Summer of Tech. You can say that we are fueled by Summer of Tech!

What is something you have learned from your intern?

There is a need for clearer communication; I’ve had interesting conversations about the topics they are learning at uni. I’ve noticed how far removed these topics are from reality sometimes. They learn the skills and technologies, but these often have to be relearned in a certain sense. It’s important for us to explain how their skills may differ from the tasks at hand and why. 

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

Ask questions. More or less, everyone comes through the same pipeline. On a certain level, all CVs look the same. What distinguishes people is when they come prepared and are able to ask questions one can engage with, beyond the obvious ones. 

Turn a speed interview on its head. "Interrogate" the interviewer, and to do that effectively one must have understanding of the business, so really investigate the organisation prior to the interview. Don't be just "curious" (as in "what do you do") but show a willingness to dive deeper to see "how do you do this?" (which also implies you already understand the "what"). 

Imagine yourself at the company already. What would be your questions on the first day? Bring these forward to the interview. 

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/techtime-initiative-group-limited  https://www.linkedin.com/in/edletifov/

Facebook: @techtime.co.nz, @edletifov

Instagram: @techtimenz, @edletifov

Twitter: @techtime_co_nz