Test-drive your potent

Internships are usually thought of as either full twelve-month sandwich placements, or threemonths programme during the summer recess. These programmes usually give students a good amount of time to sink their teeth into a project or role whilst developing their knowledge and skills. MITA is a strong advocate of this and contributes heavily through the upcoming summer Student Placement Programme that is rolled out every year.

However, short-term work experiences can also be beneficial. This was proven so by the 10 students hailing from the South East Regional College of Northern Ireland. These students are reading for their diploma in IT and were hosted by MITA for a 2-week internship supported by Erasmus+, a programme co-funded by the European Union and which was facilitated by the Domain Group, Malta. Short-term placements are perfect for both businesses and students. Even without a specific project or event, such experiences can still be impactful. The students were placed across three departments within MITA: The Programme Management Department (PMD) which is the extended technical arm of government-wide IT systems; the Infrastructure Services Department (ISD), responsible for MITA’s IT Infrastructure; and the eGovernment and Corporate Solutions Department (ECSD), responsible for the online government services and the overall corporate solutions.

The aim of this ten-day internship was to gain a two-way learning experience. The students were placed with junior MITA staff purposely for this reason. MITA junior employees would be a closer age to the students; and thus, can potential forge a quicker relationship based on commonalities. Once the ice is broken, student interns inject energy into an office setting, bringing vitality and enthusiasm that tenured employees may lack – and it becomes contagious. Furthermore, students, although briefly, will be exposed to skills in communication, teamwork and problem-solving. These are soft skills which are not learned through text books and once aware of their necessity, these skills will stay with students throughout their professional career.

Josianne Formosa, a Software Developer within the Social Security programme at PMD, felt the positive vibes of such an experience and stated that “whilst keeping in mind the students’ varied ages, exposure and knowledge of the industry, the students managed to grasp the main concepts and processes involved in delivering software systems. Thanks to the MITA management, this opportunity was a hands-on experience particularly in resource management whilst being a learning process itself”. Interns are often on the leading edge of the work carried at industry level. Their questions sometimes help to identify gaps in processes, or modus operandi, simply because they bring in a fresh perspective to the things that become ‘automatic’ to the rest of the agency.

Students were given also handson tasks such as to research on accessibility specifically in relation to the new accessibility directive mandated by the EU. The research had to cover what is accessibility, assessment criteria and what tools are available for testing/ assessing accessibility on mobile apps as well as web sites. Furthermore, students were also tasked to provide feedback about a mobile app and provide insights into possible enhancements targeting UI/ UX. The students were therefore exposed to the design and structured thinking when it came to the actual development of mobile apps. The deliverable for this task was a set of wireframes designed by the students themselves. Morgan Dunn said, “I was given the task of designing wireframes for a mobile app. I had some previous experience of this at South Eastern Regional College, where I am a student. I previously created wireframes for my website pages during my first year. I was able to employ my skills by designing wireframes for the app and was given guidance and help from my mentor.”

Something that resonated well with our junior employees was the fact that for two weeks, through these interns, they experienced how the management of people and tasks looks like. It gave them the opportunity to test their leadership skills through mentoring another person. On the other hand, such an experience will give students a taste of their chosen field. One of the greatest advantage of internship is that it allows students to experience the industry and chosen profession. There is no better way to find out if a certain profession is the right one unless one experiences it up close as an intern. Victoria Murray, one of our interns said, “it was amazing working up close with my mentor at MITA, he explained about

the different tasks he was involved in and provided a clear understanding of the types of work he was involved in. The experience was invaluable, and I appreciate the depth and complexity of work that the staff in MITA cope with on a daily basis.”

Problem solving skills is another opportunity that can be experienced through internships. Today’s students are digital natives with comprehensions and curiosities that can be extremely valuable in a business setting. Placing young workers with these interns was positive as their discussions would shift from work to hobbies and on other seemingly trivial technological details; but which could easily spark idea generation back into their projects. Mark Cullen, another intern commented, “it was a very useful experience working at MITA. The staff were so friendly and tried to engage us by asking for our opinions and/or ideas that we might have about certain problems with coding that may have arisen. It was great to be involved during my time at MITA. I had a real insight into how problems can be solved using creative thinking.” It seems that while the interns learn and benefit from their work experience, employees learn from the students as well.

It appears that internships can also serve as the ultimate recruitment channel. Internships could very well function as test drives for how a potential future employee might fit into and enhance the agency. A strategic objective of internships could be to make students evangelists for the agency – no matter how long the internship. The more exposure, experience and hands-on work that interns are shadowing and potentially empowered with; the more they would be willing to spread the word on how the agency is vested in helping its employees grow their career. Kevinne Sarwelas really had a positive experience, he said, “my short internship at MITA have given me a thirst for a future career in computing. I got to see, first hand, how everything I had been taught all comes together to form part of a real-life activity in business. MITA is a remarkable organisation, which embraces so many different aspects of Information Technology, from detailed and complex databases to frontend design of applications and backend work on supporting the internal infrastructure of its organisation. I am greatly encouraged to pursue a career as a result of my experience there.

Raymond Roberts a Tutor from South Eastern Regional College, who accompanied the interns said, “I was very impressed with the up-to-date facilities and resources made available to the interns. The workplace was very organised and the placements for students were the best I have witnessed. Each intern was placed with their own mentor and were given detailed information about the methods and tasks they were involved in. I cannot praise MITA enough for the quality of training and preparations made to accommodate the interns. Every intern enjoyed their experience there and gained an interesting and varied experience, as they rotated jobs every three days. This gave them the best possible experience to sample different types of tasks and work that MITA is involved with.”

Their teachers were equally satisfied with the level of engagement shown by both student and MITA employee. Colin McBrinn another Tutor at South Eastern Regional College, commented, “The experiences which the interns had was exceptional. MITA really went out of their way to provide a stimulating and worthwhile learning experience. The activities undertaken by the interns were engaging and gave them valuable experiences they will carry with them for the rest of their lives. MITA staff spent a lot of time talking and explaining the various roles they were involved in. Equally, the interns appeared motivated and interested in the different tasks they were involved with. Many thanks to all of the Staff involved at MITA for the excellent training and assistance provided. I hope we can renew our friendship for the next cohort of interns for 2018/2019!”

Internships offer a fantastic opportunity to impress the professionals that matter. This however, happens only if the interns are mindful of the experience that they are about to embark upon. Students need to show positive attitude and eagerness towards work and learning; overcome inhibition that is common among interns and learn how to stand up to be counted.

However brief, this was a positive experience. Christian Attard, a Software Developer within the Funding Programme at PMD stated that he is convinced that this was a wonderful experience, for both the students as it was for the MITA mentors. “This was my first mentoring experience. It was more fun than I originally expected, even though it lasted a few weeks. Was a pleasure learning some new insights on developing and teaching; and I hope to have another opportunity at mentoring new students.”