I hired an entire team to build a product from scratch during my internship with IIT Bombay
About the author: Jatin Madan is a graduate in B.Tech in Computer Science and Technology from the 2020 batch of Vellore Institute of Technology. He shares his experience of interning with IIT Bombay as an Azure DevOps and product management intern.
I had received two job offers during the campus recruitment drive. However, due to the pandemic, both of them were deferred. After a month of waiting around in a state of extreme anxiety, I started applying for internships in the hopes of making use of my time and gaining experience. That’s when I came across the opportunity to intern at IIT Bombay, and I applied.
The selection procedure involved two virtual interviews with different team leads. My first interview was conducted by the HR head, who evaluated whether I would be able to meet the day-to-day requirements of the internship. The second interview was carried out by a developer from the team who asked me technical questions about my past projects. I was also asked to design a version control system and explain how I would manage it during the call. Apart from the interviews, I had to submit three assignments. I had to write a proposal for a new venture, create a sprint backlog and a product management spreadsheet, and come up with a list of technical questions that could be used for screening candidates for future interviews.
My key responsibilities were to manage the cloud infrastructure, along with maintaining a Scrum framework for the organisation. I was also responsible for hiring a team to build two in-house applications. I was given complete autonomy for hiring, which allowed me to build a well-functioning team, which is my favourite memory from the internship.
The first application that we built was a customised video conferencing solution, which was hosted on Azure cloud; the second application was a sprint and product backlog management tool to keep track of our daily activities and the status of each task. The applications were integrated as a final solution, and I was responsible for the architectural design and cloud hosting.
Designing and deploying the solutions on Azure required extensive research about Azure services and the best implementation practices. I also learned about different web hosting techniques, including buying domains, SSL certificates, etc. I used these learnings while applying for Microsoft Azure advanced level certification and have successfully cleared AZ-900 and AZ-304 certifications from Microsoft.
While building the applications, the biggest challenge that we faced was creating a workflow while working remotely. As a product manager, I set up daily calls with each team and collated all the work that was being done. I devised a flexible work hour schedule, which allowed each team member to work how they saw fit as long as they delivered. This significantly improved performance as no one had to sit online for hours if they didn’t want to. We also had virtual celebrations and disconnects during the festival and became friends over time. So, work-from-home turned out to be much better than I had anticipated, and I am glad that I had this opportunity.
Do you feel inspired by Jatin’s story? Then check out these product management and cloud computing internships, and get started with managing your career.
