Owning Your Summer Project

Internships are the culmination of your hard work — but the real challenge begins when you actually have to deliver a project on your own. Leading a project independently is an opportunity to sharpen your technical skills, build confidence, and grow professionally. With the right mindset and support from your mentor and team, you can navigate this experience successfully.

A Quick Introduction

  • I'm Sravya, a rising junior at Purdue majoring in Computer and Data Science.
  • This summer, I was a Frontend SWE intern with Team Expansion based in the Seattle office.
  • I built an internal tool for developers at Slack to test in-app coach marks and modals.

Getting Your Bearings

After onboarding, you might find yourself asking, "Where do I start?" The first step that helped me was a comprehensive discussion with my mentor and manager. In that meeting, we focused on:

  • Project objectives: Understanding why the project matters to the company and how it fits into the team's strategy kept me focused on the bigger picture.
  • Key deliverables: Defining the expected outcomes early — whether software features, tools, or documentation — gave me clear targets and a way to measure progress.
  • Resources: Identifying the documentation, software tools, and people who could offer support was essential.

From there, I invested time in familiarizing myself with the technologies I'd be using. Whether you're learning a new platform, a coding language, or an internal tool, spend time reviewing documentation, exploring the codebase, and reaching out to more experienced colleagues. That initial effort builds confidence.

Planning the Route

Before diving into the work, my mentor and I outlined a detailed plan: we broke the project into tasks, set deadlines, and established milestones. With only 12 weeks to complete the project, that plan was crucial for staying on track. We used Jira to visualize my progress, make real-time adjustments, and add tickets as needed.

Challenges will inevitably come up — how you respond makes the difference. Stay flexible and approach problems with a solutions-oriented mindset. When hitting a roadblock, reassess, brainstorm alternatives, and keep moving forward. Your mentor and team are there to help; their different perspectives and guidance can help you navigate difficulties and keep momentum. I leaned on my mentor whenever needed, and his insights were valuable in overcoming obstacles.

Seeking Feedback Early and Often

Regular feedback is one of the greatest growth opportunities during an internship. I made it a point to have frequent check-ins with my mentor where we discussed my current approach and explored whether there was a more efficient way to solve a problem. This not only assured me about my approach but also significantly improved my technical abilities.

Advocating for Your Work

Since I was the only one building my project, giving it a voice was essential. I provided weekly updates in my project channel, sharing progress, challenges, and successes. This kept the project visible, built confidence in my work, and opened doors for feedback and support.

Being an intern means proactively seeking out resources and help. I had the advantage of direct access to my users — the developers who would use the tool — which let me iterate quickly based on their suggestions. That feedback loop was critical for refining the tool, addressing pain points, and enhancing functionality.

I also collaborated with Jessica, a product designer, which gave me a new perspective on user experience. Working with her expanded my project and showed me how design thinking fits into engineering.

Crossing the Finish Line

Delivering your project — and perhaps even demoing it — marks the culmination of your hard work, collaboration, and learning. Take time to recognize how much you've grown, from project setup to navigating challenges to advocating for your work. But the journey doesn't end here; continue building on what you've learned as you grow as a software engineer.

Final Thoughts

  1. Go at your own pace: Everyone works differently. I sometimes felt I wasn't moving fast enough, but I learned that taking the time to fully understand a problem produces better results.
  2. The people make the experience memorable: Working with my mentor, designer, and teammates not only helped me grow professionally but also made the summer enjoyable. Take time to get to know your peers and fellow interns.

Interested in tackling interesting projects and building tools that make people's work easier? We're hiring.