Student Story - Annie Foote

Annie Foote is a second-year student studying a Bachelor of Engineering, majoring in Cyber Engineering at Victoria University. At the end of her first year in 2022, she landed a Security internship at Helix Security Services. 

We recently caught up with Annie, who kindly shared how everything went during her internship, what she learned and the advantages of signing up for Summer of Tech during her first year at uni.

When did you sign up for Summer of Tech and why?

I initially got put onto Summer of Tech by my high school technology teacher. He suggested I make use of all opportunities available to me even though I was only in my first year. I thought I’d give it a shot! 

What was the highlight of your internship?

Hard to say just one highlight as I had such a good time! Being able to work in a real-life work environment was amazing. I got to lead a project internally within the company. That meant organising meetings, communicating updates and everything else. The social aspect of the internship was also great. I met so many people that I learned from and I know those connections will be valuable. 

I did my internship at Helix Security. It’s a relatively small organisation, with around 25 employees. That meant I had the opportunity to meet everyone, ask questions and feel comfortable getting help from everyone. The culture there is that everyone interacts with each other, and the team are very open, welcoming and happy to give their time. There’s a great culture there and it's a nice, sociable environment. 

Did you face any challenges or anything unexpected?

No major challenges, but lots of small things to learn along the way. Time management was a big learning for me. I had to learn to plan for things that might unexpectedly come up and require a lot of time and work. I learnt to break up my work and account for being busy in the future. 

What valuable skill did you learn from your mentor?

My mentor was great. She taught me a lot around the technical side of things - what certificates and accreditation I would need. I also learnt a lot from her on the soft skills side. Habits that you pick up after working in a corporate environment. Things like meeting etiquette, how to speak in formal situations, leading meetings, following an agenda and keeping to time limits. All those things were super valuable. 

What kind of support did you receive from your team?

There was lots of support available when I needed it. Anyone was willing to help if required, but we followed the approach of having a go first and then reviewing it. That allowed me to learn from doing it and to experiment. Documentation that I wrote was peer reviewed and I had a different person review it each time. I was able to get a different perspective from each person. I always had support available to me when I required it. 

How did Summer of Tech help with the internship process?

I wouldn’t have gotten the role without Summer of Tech as I don’t think I would have applied if not for the programme. I didn’t even know it was an option. The Summer of Tech platform made the application process easy as I didn’t have to fill out a bunch of different application forms. That gave me more time to study. The events throughout the year were really helpful - CV reviews, and mock interviews. Summer of Tech make it easy to get that help and find the role that was best for me. 

What’s one piece of advice you’d give a student starting the Summer of Tech programme in 2023? 

Have a go! The worst-case scenario is that you don’t get a role, but you get all the practice and preparation. There is no downside. Having a good early start in your uni study takes the pressure off the next time. You get used to meeting people at events, talking to them, and introducing yourself. The connections I made were really valuable. Basically, just go for it! 

What’s next for you?

I still have three years left and I’ll take what I have learned during my internship to help me with my degree. I’m looking at interning again this year but maybe in a different area or a different role to help me try and determine what I’d like to do when I finish my studies. 

Thank you, Annie, for sharing your internship experience with us.