During their summer internships, Larissa and Paddy were handed a challenge and an opportunity that most interns don’t get - designing and developing their very own app for the PaySauce platform.

Different Summer of Tech experiences

While they both went through the Summer of Tech programme, Paddy and Larissa had quite different experiences. As Larissa was in Wellington, she was able to attend a lot of the Summer of Tech workshops, but Paddy studies at the University of Canterbury where the programme has less of a presence. Despite this, he was able to attend Meet and Greet - Summer of Tech's largest networking event of the year. 

“ I’ve been to a couple of Meet and Greets now and I’ve really enjoyed the wide range of companies and opportunities that you guys have managed to bring together all in one place. I think it’s awesome that no matter my area of interest I could always find an opportunity to apply for.” Paddy

Larissa found that not only are the workshops valuable learning experiences, but they're also fun! She made friends through the bootcamps that she still keeps in contact with today. She was also pleasantly surprised at how welcoming employers were at the Meet and Greet. 

“They didn’t really care about your background, they just wanted to get to know you. That was really cool, because when you’re getting to know people in the industry and they’re wanting to help you, it feels like a weight off your shoulders." Larissa

Power of the people

The people at Paysauce were the number one attraction for Larissa and Paddy when choosing their summer internships. Both interns said that when they were tossing up options, they went back to the great conversations they’d had with the Paysauce team. 

“ I went and talked to them and they were just awesome. They were chill, and it was like I walked up to them and we were friends already. “ Larissa

The unique role was also a draw to the company, as Paysauce wanted summer interns who would create an entirely new project. This flexibility provided Larissa and Paddy with the opportunity to work on something completely their own, something they both said attracted them to the roles. 

O is for Opportunity

Working as a pair, Larissa and Paddy developed Tasks in just 11 short weeks. Tasks offers employers a clever way to manage and delegate jobs. The boss can assign tasks, set deadlines, and manage priorities for their team. Tasks integrates with the PaySauce platform and draws employee information from payroll. Despite admitting the idea of building a completely new project being ‘overwhelming’ at first, Paddy says that they were comfortable enough with their co-workers that asking for help was no problem. 

“ It was great knowing that you have the team there if you need them but at the end of it it was our product and we were left to our own accord for the most part.” Paddy

Larissa agreed, saying “At the start it was like, “OMG what have I gotten myself into!?” but definitely having them there was a massive help”. 

The perfect pair

Something that the pair found particularly helpful throughout their internship was how well they worked together. Paysauce had purposefully hired one intern with more front-end and design experience (Larissa), and one with more back-end experience (Paddy). Therefore, the interns were not only learning from their mentors, but from each other as well. 

“It was really cool, I thought, how they planned it. We got to dip our hands in a bit of both [front-end and back-end]. It was really good exposure to a lot of new things, and to have someone beside you is really awesome as well.” Paddy

What’s next? 

After their summer internships, Paddy had to return to university in Canterbury where he’s completing his degree, although he has continued to do some part time remote work for Paysauce. Larissa has stayed on with the company full time and plans to remain there for the foreseeable future. 

“They’re a super awesome company, especially with them being so understanding and willing to teach me the ropes as I go.” Larissa