If you’re a student or just someone who is looking for a job you might be wondering: “How could I get to work for FINN.no?”. One guy found an answer and is now one of the key developers on our iOS applications. We did an advert for summer interns last year and he was one of the people who came in to do some proof of concept work on iOS. The end result was an iPad application that never hit the AppStore, but for one of the participant this internship was the first step towards landing a job as a developer at FINN.no.
What made you apply for the summer internship at FINN.no?
It all started with my university teacher pointed out that FINN.no had an open internship during the summer. At first I did not want to apply, because I wanted to have vacation all summer (Like all other informatics students). However, I ended up with applying and just a few hours later I got a call; the internship was mine! The main reason to apply for the internship was that I was finishing my master’s degree and was lacking work experience in the field of informatics. Secondly, I did not know that much about FINN.no and I could always need the extra money :)
What did you learn during that summer?
I learned that FINN.no is not just a big website, it is also a big company. And there are not just developers at FINN.no, but also a range of different jobs (Like finance, marketing, economics and so on). When taking about the technical aspects I learned how to develop for the iPhone/iPad. Furthermore, I learned that to get things working you are depended on a range of different “teams” to develop what you need. And this is not always trivial, because all “teams” have their own focus areas and problems. So you never work independent!
What was it like to be a summer intern at FINN.no?
It was both interesting and rich on experiences. The one thing I want to point out is how the atmosphere and the peoples at FINN.no are. The atmosphere is comfortable and “chill” and the people are welcoming and easy to talk with. They want to teach you what they know and want to learn about what you know.
How did you do about landing the position at FINN.no?
Firstly, I work hard during the summer and tried my best to present what I could do. Before I left FINN.no that summer I was told that if I needed a part time work, I should just ask and they would see what they could give me. After the summer internship was completed I went back to school for a few months. Some time before Christmas I sent my supervisor at FINN.no a e-mail and ask if it was possible to get a 50% position at the company the last 6 months of my masters degree. 1. January I started with working part time at FINN.no and before I completed my degree I was presented with a full time position at FINN.no.
What have you been doing since you came to work for FINN.no?
I have been continuing learning objective-c and iOS. Furthermore have I learned more about designing projects, completing them and how to work with other development teams (To get our hands on the right APIs we needed in the iOS app). One example is the new iOS app, FINN Torget annonse innleggning”, that FINN.no released a week ago.
What is the difference between working with school assignments and working at a company?
The biggest difference must be that a school assignment is something that will never be used by any persons. So you just complete it because you must, and not because you want to. In a company as big as FINN.no your applications will be used by a lot of peoples. You must always perform your best to please all of the users. Because of this you want to stay on the edge of new technology and learn more.
What’s your advice for other young developers out there wanting to work for the coolest company in Norway?
You must work hard and make them see you in the crowd. If a new internship opens up do not think twice just apply. Before you know it, you are placed in my position to answer a few questions in a interview like this one.
Anything you want to add?
I love how they work at FINN.no, a lot of very smart people and it feels like peoples at FINN.no don’t stress that much! And peoples at FINN.no do know how to create a party ;)
