WFH vs WFO: A Day In the Life of a Software Engineering Intern
The following article is part of a series of articles about our NerdWallet Internship program. Helen Tang shared their experience as an software engineer intern. If you are curious about joining NerdWallet as an intern or full-time employee, please apply for one of our open positions!
Have you ever wondered how a typical WFH day during the COVID-19 pandemic compares to a typical WFO day back in January 2020? Keep on reading to find out more!
8:30 - 9:30 WFH: Zoom workout! 💡 Getting a workout in with friends is the best way to cultivate consistency - which is much needed when we are working from home. 💡 WFO: Wake up, get ready, and walk to work.
9:30 - 10:00
Both: Respond to emails, and write out a plan for the day while sipping on my breakfast smoothie. 💡 Check out my previous blog for tips on how to stay organized.💡
10:00 - 11:00
Both: Sprint work. Each intern at NerdWallet leads a medium to large sized project for the quarter. Sprint work consists of working on a feature for the project, addressing PR comments, reviewing other PRs, and working with the QA team.
11:00 - 11:15
Both: Daily Scrum meeting where to discuss the status of our work.
11:00 - 12:00
WFH: Participate in an activity outside of my sprint work. Example: hosting a virtual Jumpstart Webinar.
WFO: Sprint work, and checking in with my mentor.
12:00 - 1:00
WFH: Virtual lunch with the interns + new grads; go out for a walk.
WFO: Eat lunch at the cafeteria + grab coffee with the interns. 💡 Everyone at NerdWallet is super friendly, so this is a great time to meet new people! 💡
1:00 - 3:00
Both: Sprint work.
3:00 - 3:30
Both: Catch up with my culture buddy. 💡 Each intern is matched with a culture buddy. This is a Nerd who is on a different team, a few years older, and your go-to resource for questions that aren’t specific to your project. 💡
3:30 - 4:30
Both: Sprint work.
4:30 - 5:30
Both: Engineering tech talk. A great opportunity to learn technical knowledge from others at NerdWallet - previous talks have covered topics like AWS, GraphQL, and machine learning.
5:30 - 6:30
Both: Game night with my team, or with the interns!
WFH: Our go-to virtual games are Among Us, and JackBox
WFO: We usually play Pop-A-Shot, a board game in the cafe, or a video game in the IT lounge