Written by Lisa Tucek
Reading Time: 5 Minutes

When I started my internship at Bloom Diagnostics back in October I was excited but also unsure of what was in store for me. Since I was still in the process of graduating from university, getting the hang of a new job at a new company seemed daunting at first. In the end it turned out to be one of the most rewarding experiences, as the knowledge and skills I take with me will certainly help me in any future endeavors.

During my first weeks at Bloom, my Team Lead, Thomas, encouraged me to keep a weekly log of what I learned to see as my progress and also help me stay motivated to learn and try new things. This has really helped me to see how far I have come and also to guide me in new challenges. I wanted to summarize and share with you what I have learned during my Data Science internship here at Bloom Diagnostics.

Don’t be afraid to ask for help

When I started my internship I was entering a new field of work that I wanted to explore and learn from, so I was facing new challenges every day. This inevitably resulted in some mistakes, because I was trying out things I have never done before. As exciting as it was, I was hesitant at first asking questions when I hit a wall and tried to handle things myself, not wanting to seem annoying or bothersome. I quickly switched strategies as I realized that my colleagues were happy to help and I learned more by talking to them than just trying to make sense of the myriad of google search results.

First make it work, then make it pretty

When designing new features for our data reports, it was really easy to get caught up in the little things and ultimately get sidetracked from the core idea you want to convey. Also since my programming experience was mainly from lectures and group projects in university, I spent a lot of time in the beginning trying to code efficiently and automate everything from the get-go, before making sure that it even works. By focusing on the functionality of the code before trying to improve it, it allowed me to adapt the features in development without compromising the structure and making it more complicated than it needs to be.

Take initiative & stay curious

I know it’s easy to get overwhelmed when facing challenging situations that you have never been in before. How comfortable it is to stay inside of what you know and just keep doing that over and over again. But this approach is not going to help you get to where you could go, if you take risks. Staying curious and taking initiative in tasks dares you to step out of your comfort zone and learn new things in the process. I sometimes struggle with public speaking or approaching someone that I haven’t talked to yet, and talking about my work, but when I do, I am always rewarded with helpful feedback and encouragement to move forward and become the best version of myself.