The Mac.Robertson Girls' High School - Traffio Intern Week

-- Written by Eshe Oumanski- Year 10--

On the 15^th of June Arohi, Ahana, Lela and me started our work experience at Traffio. Ahana, Lela and Arohi worked in software development, whilst I was placed in the marketing department.

It was an amazing week were we really delved into a real life working environment, and also gained hands-on experience in our field of interest.

Everyone at Traffio was very warm and welcoming, wether it was coffee runs, joining meetings, working on team projects or having lunch we were always included and encouraged to participate in the activities. The team is also very talented and supportive, with there always being someone we could talk to if we needed help.

https://youtu.be/3QBd2363kYw.

Throughout the week, I worked alongside Tara and Britney, creating various media products for Traffio. I had the opportunity to create graphic media for LinkedIn, Facebook and Instagram. I also worked with film, creating a video about what its like working at Traffio. Excitingly, this will be shown at the Strathcona Girls’ work experience night. At the end of the week, I also wrote this blog to summarise me and my peers experience.

When producing, I was faced with many challenges, such as learning how to use Adobe Premier Pro. To overcome these challenges, I either asked for help and Tara or Britney helped me brainstorm what to do, or I used youtube tutorials to develop new skills, such as fading in text on Premier Pro, and when I got really stuck it was encourage to use Chat GPT, which helped me learn the little nuances of Premier Pro especially when I couldn't find my full project!

This was an amazing experience, and I learnt so much about what its like to work in the marketing department. I was allowed developed my skills in producing media through hands on experience. I developed my understanding of professional procedures, from Tara and Britney informing me about professional techniques, such aesthetic brand elements, as well as the problems they solve in their job.

Eshe and Britney look at the social media plan

Over the week, Arohi, Ahana and Lela undertook the Programmer Challenge. They were given a duplicate of the Traffio web app in code, and they had to install modules to set this up. Then, they attempted to add their own features, having to debug all the errors which came up.

Whilst coding, there were many bugs which they had to fix. The biggest problem for them was locating the bugs, as they were hidden in a sea of files which had to be sorted through. To be able to debug their code they turned to the developers for help, as well as solving their own problems with the help of AI.

Through this amazing adventure, they learnt about the framework of a website, as well as getting proper experience doing serious coding. After they completed the challenge Arohi said “I learnt about the behind the scenes of a website”. Lela said “I’ve only worked with python before so I got a real world view of Java Script”.

After they completed the challenge they were also able to work on errors in the actual Traffio web app. Ahana said "I was able to work on editing the actual website to give people permission to create, edit and delete projects”. They agreed this was a great opportunity for them to really develop their coding skills in a real environment, both saying it was a challenging but engaging week, where they learnt real-world skills in software development.

Throughout the week, we were also able to experience a true work environment. Traffio is an amazing workspace with such kind and inviting employees, who have amazing skills. We got to experience how everyone works really hard at their desks, but also can take breaks, and enjoy lunch with colleagues, they don't watch the clock and you can see how they are very autonomous. Traffio is an amazing example of a progressive workspace were everyone is motivated to do their job, without constant management, Tara said "Traffio is a place where you are hired to do a job and you're actually empowered to do it, there is always input, but its not in a way you are being told how to do your job. Its a rare thing". This has really set us good standards for a good workplace that we should aim to end up at in the future.

Overall, it was an amazing week where we learnt so much about our respective departments, and the general work environment. We are so grateful to the Traffio team for supporting us and allowing us to have such a wonderful experience, and we would all highly recommend other students to try complete work experience at Traffio as it was truly a memorable experience.