Internships at Planet Argon

This page outlines the structure and details of the Ruby on Rails Internship at Planet Argon. It serves as an internal reference to ensure consistency and clarity for both mentors and interns.

Preparing for the Internship:

1. Communication Setup: Interns will receive their official Planet Argon email (firstName.lastName@planetargon.com) prior to the start date. This will be their primary communication channel.

2. Tool Access: Interns will be provided with access to our development and project management tools.

3. Company Insight: Interns are encouraged to explore our Blog, Case Studies, and Timeline for a deeper understanding of our history and client projects.

General Internship Schedule:

• Day One:
  • Slack Check-in: Interns check-in in the #in-n-out Slack channel at 9 AM PST.
  • Meet-the-Week Message/Meeting: Interns take part in the weekly Meet-the-Week, either on Slack or over Zoom.
  • Kick-Off Meeting: A 30-min session with the internship manager.
  • Meet & Greet: Networking sessions with fellow developers.
• First Week Activities:
  • Team Introductions: Scheduled sessions to meet the extended team.
  • Onboarding Process: Digital guidance provided through Donutbot.
  • Project Onboarding: Introduction to the first assigned project.
• Internship Timeline:
  • Tasks & Projects: Interns will handle bug fixes, code improvements, and refactoring tasks.
  • Pair Programming: Collaborative coding sessions, integrating interns with the engineering team.
  • Professional Development: Sessions dedicated to enhancing interns’ LinkedIn and Github profiles and their portfolio sites and resumes.
• Conclusion of Internship:
  • Portfolio Building: Interns can create a case study based on their experiences.
  • Recognition & Feedback: Completion letters and an opportunity for interns to provide feedback on the program.

Scheduled Meetings:

Interns will participate in:

• Meet-the-Week (MTW)
• Engineering Team Meeting (ETM)
• 1:1s with the manager
• Culture Club events
• Pair programming sessions
• Profile and resume reviews

Key Internship Contacts:

For the smooth running of the internship program:

• Manager (Ben Parisot, he/him): For overarching internship details and general queries.

• Project Manager (Michael Kurt, he/him): Guidance on project specifics.

• Onboarding Buddy (TBD): Assistance with development best practices.

• Project Tech Lead (TBD): Technical mentorship on the codebase and related processes.

Our Ruby on Rails Internship is designed to provide a comprehensive and enriching experience to budding developers. It’s essential for our engineering team to be aligned and informed about the program’s structure to ensure its success. Let’s work together to make this a valuable experience for all involved.

Example Communication

Here is an example letter we send to an incoming intern the week before their first day:

Hi ${internName}!

We’re excited to have you joining Planet Argon as a Ruby on Rails Intern for the period of ${date} to ${date}. The following is information about what you can expect throughout your internship and who on the team you should reach out to should you have any questions.

General Internship Schedule

We aim to keep our interns busy throughout the duration of the internships. Here is what you can expect to be working on while you’re here:

Your First Day:

• You’ll check-in at 9 AM PST in the #in-n-out Slack channel with a “Here!”, “Good morning”, or whimsical gif of your choice (/giphy ${search term})
• At 9 AM PST you’ll receive a “Meet-the-Week” message from our Slackbot requesting you answer 4 prompts:
  • Share one personal highlight from the last week
  • Share one professional highlight from the last week
  • What do you hope this week’s professional highlight will be?
  • Any kudos you’d like to thank your team members for?
• You’ll have a 30-min Internship Kick-Off meeting with your manager (that’s me!)
• The rest of your day will be spent in Meet-&-Greet meetings with your fellow developers and setting up your local development environment

Your First Week:

• Intro meetings with members of the team
• Slack-based onboarding via Donutbot
• Setting up your development environment on your computer
• Onboarding to your first project

Throughout the Internship:

• Working on project tickets (bug fixes, minor feature improvements, and code refactoring usually)
• Pair programming with other members of the engineering team
• Fine-tuning your LinkedIn and Github profiles and your portfolio site and/or resume

At the End of Your Internship:

• Adding an internship case-study to your resume site or portfolio
• Receiving a letter of completion from your manager
• Giving your feedback on the internship experience via an exit survey

Meetings

You will attend a variety of standing meetings during your internship. These include:

• Meet-the-Week (MTW)
• Engineering Team Meeting (ETM)
• 1:1s with your manager
• Meet-&-Greets with your fellow developers
• Culture Club events
• Pair programming sessions
• LinkedIn, Github, and portfolio/resume reviews

Points of Contact

There are few people you should reach out to should you have any questions about the internship, the company, or the project you’re working on. (Both your onboarding buddy and project manager are Ccd on this email, so feel free to reach out and say hi if you like!)

• Your manager (Ben Parisot, he/him): Reach out to your manager with any questions about account or tool access or set-up, meetings, time or work expectations, team processes, or things related to your internship.
• Your project manager (Michael Kurt, he/him): Reach out to your PM with any questions about project work or issue requirements.
• Your onboarding buddy (William Mena, he/him): Reach out to your onboarding buddy with any questions you have about development best practices or questions you don’t feel comfortable asking your manager or PM.
• Your project tech lead (TBD): Reach out to the project tech lead with project-specific questions about the code base, PRs, deployment, app architecture, and testing.

Next Steps

Though I sent this email to your personal email address, you will soon be getting an invite to your Planet Argon email address (firstName.lastName@planetargon.com). This is where all your email communication will happen during your internship, so please check it often throughout your work day.

Once you have access to your new email account, you’ll see invites to the development and project management tools we use daily. Please follow any links included in those emails to finish setting up or verifying your accounts, and make sure to set-up two-factor authentication where asked.

Before you start, take a look at our Blog, Case Studies, and Timeline to familiarize yourself with the history of the company and the type of work we do for our clients.

Phew!

I know that’s a lot of info, and I appreciate you sticking with me to the end. As I mentioned, we’re really excited to have you join the team for your 4-week internship. We hope you learn a lot from your time here; we’re going to do our best to help start your journey into professional software development off on the right foot.

Please reach out to me if you have any questions or concerns before your first day. If not, we’ll see you on Monday!

Sincerely,

Ben Parisot he/him Software Engineering Manager | Planet Argon 1-503-847-9214 ext. 707 https://www.planetargon.com/about/ben-parisot