An Unforgettable Experience: Interning at D2L as a Software Developer

Hi, my name is Freya! I am a Computer Science student at the University of Waterloo. I recently finished my first Co-op at D2L as a Software Developer, and I am currently a Campus Ambassador for D2L. In this blog, I will be talking about my experience at D2L, as well as some things I learned from this job.

My Responsibilities 

The roles of a software developer can span a very wide range – from front-end, back-end, and web to game, graphics, mobile, and security. I was on the Research & Development team at the D2L Labs in Toronto doing back-end development and finished off the term with some web development work. Our team focused on creating innovative products which could potentially be deployed by the company in the next five to ten years. For development, I used Node.js and AWS, and my job responsibilities consisted of coding, testing, debugging, and of course, researching things I didn’t know how to do! 

Day in the Life of a Software Developer Co-op

Many of you may be wondering, what was a typical day like for me? 

I usually started work at 9:00 A.M. The first thing I did was always create a brief to-do list. I made a spreadsheet where I would write down the tasks I wanted to accomplish for the day, take note of any blockers and questions I had, and record the new things I learned with relevant resources linked to them. For the to-do list, I liked to write down the main tasks and then break them down into smaller, actionable subtasks, which I found to be easier to follow. After, I would spend 5 to 10 minutes looking over the code I wrote on the previous day to refresh my memory before starting some debugging work. 

10:00 A.M. was our daily team standup. Standup meetings are usually for updating the rest of the team on your progress and plans and discussing any blockers you may have encountered. It is important to have any issues brought up to your coworkers’ attention because these issues could potentially affect the things that other people are working on or someone else could have experienced the same issue so it can get resolved faster. 

I took my lunch break around 12:00 to 1:00 P.M. And after that, more coding! Being a software developer is a lot of independent work. However, this is not quite the same as saying you need to solve every problem on your own. A tip that I have for soon-to-be software developers is to ask a lot of questions. Do not be afraid! I was surrounded by many experienced developers and everyone was more than happy to provide help to the best of their abilities, whether it be sharing online resources that they found or having a side-by-side debugging session. These sessions were super helpful because I got to improve my debugging skills by watching how an experienced developer does it and also accumulated a lot of new knowledge about back-end development. 

At 3:00 P.M., I would have my second meeting of the day with my team, which we called the Forced Casual. These meetings were similar to the standup, only that they tend to last longer for some more in-depth discussion about the project and code. 

I would usually get off work at about 5 P.M. Before I leave work, I always made sure to update my progress on my spreadsheet and jot down any blockers so I don’t forget them for the upcoming workday. 

Some Final Words + Tips 

I joined the team without having extensive experience in backend development. It was certainly not easy to overcome the learning curve that I and many others would experience at the start of our jobs. However, all you need to do is keep working at it and remember that there are many, many people out there who are willing to share their knowledge and lend a helping hand. 

One of the biggest things I liked about being a Software Developer was that I had the flexibility to manage my time and choose when to work on a certain task, so I could maximize my efficiency. Personally, I tend to have better concentration in the afternoon, so my mornings were more focused on debugging and my afternoons were for researching and learning new things. 

With a 9-5 job, I also had my first taste of work-life balance. I would focus on work during the day, and in the evening, I had time to participate in social events, do sports activities, and learn new things (like how to cook better!). I feel lucky to be working for a company that allowed me to prioritize myself and my hobbies alongside my work. 

Looking back on my experience, I couldn’t be more grateful for all the things I learned from this co-op role (technical or non-technical) and the great relationships I built with my colleagues. 

If you have any questions, feel free to shoot me a message any time so we can chat more about #LifeAtD2L and upcoming opportunities for students 😊