Welcome to Enye Cohort 5 [Feb 8, 12:25 AM]
I saw the mail some minutes after midnight while making fixes to an app I was building. I had kept my mail tab open because Mr. Uche Nnandi had promised us via the Slack group that we'd get mails that weekend. I smiled when I saw it, and then I laughed, and then, I relaxed.
...before now
I had applied for Enye cohort 2 and 4 internships. I didn't continue with the application. I was either very busy with deliverables, or I felt that I could not complete the task before the deadline.
I got a mail from the Enye team on Jan 15 informing me that the Enye cohort 5 internship was open for applications. The benefits of participating in the internship were listed, and I was more interested and willing than I ever was. I had more free time and as a self-taught developer, I needed a process that would put me through building software using the proper tools and processes. I applied and told my friends to apply too.
Phase One
I was sent a link to the first task and I was asked to submit it in 5 days. The purpose of the task was for the Enye team to gauge applicants' understanding of 'working with JSON data and RESTful APIs, and to gauge applicants' understanding of user experience in frontend development' too.
It was an interesting two-part task that required applicants to develop and deploy a frontend application that displays data from an API beautifully well and a backend application that returns currency rates based on requests from a client.
I set a deadline for myself to submit before the deadline, and I did. I put in a lot, but I didn't expect much. No thanks to rejection letters with poor user experience.
Phase Two
I received a congratulatory mail that my submission was accepted, 202. I was also added to a private channel on the Slack group for applicants whose phase one submission had been accepted.
The task for the second phase was to ace the cut-off mark on a multiple-choice questions test about JavaScript, React and, Node.js. I was to take the test whenever I felt comfortable.
Like the first task, I tried what I could, but unlike it, I was a tad hopeful. Even at that, I choose to not pay much attention to receiving a congratulatory mail; to numb the effect of mails that hurt.
Phase Three
I got another congratulatory mail informing me that I had passed the phase two test. This mail came with a test attached. What's that maxim again? The reward for good work is more work init?
This test hit me and stretched me, but I loved it. It required applicants to do the following for an application that was described:
create user story mapping diagrams using Miro,
create a UI design using Figma,
describe and design a standard API documentation for the application using Swagger,
leverage Lucid Chart to create entity relationship diagrams for the database entities of the application,
list and describe the various APIs, deployment platforms, frameworks, libraries, and other tech that will be needed to build the application; state the advantages and disadvantages of the chosen tech, state the reason for choosing it over its competitors, and also state how relevant the chosen tech is to the development of the application,
in five days. All these in five days!
What really got me interested in this task was that I had an idea to build this particular application the year before, but I didn't know what (best and free-tier) tools to build it with. I also didn't know how best to architect it. After reading the task description, I said to myself What you've been pushing away has finally hugged you tight. I've built apps, but I didn't follow this process.
I hadn't used any of these tools before, except Figma. I wrote user stories for apps I built, but I'd never arranged them into activities, tasks and stories and placed them into sprints. I spent two days (thank you PHCN) learning the proper format for user story mappings.
Creating the standard APIs using Swagger became less stressful and faster for me when I learnt about components. The user experience in using Miro was awesome and it helped. That I had this application in mind before I was assigned this task made creating the entity-relationship diagram easier for me.
I put a lot of work into the justification for the technologies to be used in building out the application. My idea was that, even if I didn't pass to the next phase, I'd have learnt what tech to use to build the app myself.
I did not finish the Figma design task, and I wasn't bothered much. One of the instructions on the task read You will be judged based on the quality of your work. I felt confident that the focus was on attention to detail and quality, not quantity.
Video Interview
The congratulatory mail for passing the phase three test came with a request for a recorded video with answers to interview questions that verified my soft skills and had to be submitted in three days.
Final Thoughts
The experience was awesome. Even if I hadn't been selected, I'd still be happy I went through the process and here are my reasons:
The Enye team was supportive throughout the application period, and the grading processes were relatively fast. I got response mails in less than a week
The tasks were clear, straightforward, and involved real-life tasks. They also inspired autonomy. The Enye team made sure that applicants were never hand-held in completing their tasks.
I believe the process was fair. If it wasn't, someone would have complained on the Slack channel. Although I never asked for feedback, I believe that some applicants received feedback on their submitted tasks when they asked.
The process wasn't focused on filtering out applicants. Those who didn't make it to the selected 30 were put on a waitlist as replacements, in the event that someone from the selected 30 wasn't interested in the internship.
Thank you Enye. I look forward to working with the founders and engineers who I'll be matched with during the internship. I look forward to creating magic with you all!
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