By George Alexander on Mon 28 January 2019
It’s been nearly 6 months since I started my placement, and it’s already been a massive adventure both academically and personally. With all the skills and experience I have gained so quickly, I simply couldn’t recommend a placement with ProspectSoft enough.
The ProspectSoft journey started with a month of training, this was where we were welcomed to the world of CRM (Customer Relationship Management) systems, CMS (Content Management System) and B2B (Business 2 Business) operations. This world was far more complex and interesting than I ever imagined it to be!
After the month of intense training, we were put straight to work on meaningful projects, being specifically chosen to create a job management system for one of our top customers. It was a really nice project to start on; not only was I using modern technology like Vue, JavaScript and OData, I was completing a project that felt important to the customer. Throughout this first project, I never felt like there was an unbearable amount of pressure on me and my team were always super supportive, happily helping me when I needed the guidance! Having a mentor and team who were always willing to help me, made such a difference. Within the project I learnt so much off my team, but the two most important things I learnt were:
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I love Vue! Side note - if you don’t know what Vue is, it’s a JavaScript framework that is component based, and makes creating a reactive user interface super easy and flexible.
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Secondly, I have so much to learn even after 3 years of University!
Whilst at University, I always felt that the biggest use of my time was trying to apply the concepts I learnt. For example, I would spend hours trying to fix packages, or debugging poorly, or even working out how to set up an environment. ProspectSoft has really helped me improve these skills and therefore has helped me save so much time in every project I’m doing – this will also greatly benefit me in the future! Being able to do work at a quicker pace but still of great quality, is really satisfying!
It’s pretty exciting that when I get back to University I will be able to jump into learning new interesting concepts, without the hassle of spending hours setting up the environment. Another exciting skill I can’t wait to apply is the application of technologies such as the Microsoft Azure platform, especially for my final year project. The idea that my final year project can use modern technologies that I have already used, will not only make my final year project easier, it also means I can be more open to which final project I choose to do. It’s a win, win situation!
The personal skills I have learnt with ProspectSoft have already made such a big impact in my life. A year ago, I couldn’t imagine myself waking up before 7am every day and going to work for nearly 8 hours and still be enjoying myself! It’s also a great feeling knowing that when I go back to University, I will easily put 8 hours a day into studying, without getting easily stressed and blissfully stroll into my 9am lecturers - it should be a walk in the park!