A Day in the life of a [Software Engineer] Cisco Intern series

Hey readers!

I’m so happy to see you tuning in! Welcome to the first of the “Day in the Life of an Intern” Series, bought to you by some eager interns wishing to show you what life is like on the inside. As you can tell from the title – and perhaps from some of my previous articles – I am a Software Engineer Intern, and today I will be guiding you through what my average Tuesday looks like, or more particularly, what 26/10/21 specifically had in store for me, frills and all!

I work within a team called eStore, which delivers services and solutions to employees within Cisco. Much of my day-to-day job consists of creating and implementing features that make eStore bigger, better, and more intuitive! One of the things that makes my job and my deliveries so successful, are the meetings that I have with my team members that keep everything consistent and in check on a regular basis.

This is exactly how I start off my Tuesday morning. I wake up to a 10am meeting with one of my mentors. Despite being months into my internship, my team still strives to make sure I am comfortable and challenged with the tasks that are assigned to me. That morning, we discussed one of the tasks I had been given and spoke of ways to make my productivity more visible using some of the cool features in the project management platform we use.

After this meeting, I get the day rolling by checking my emails and catching up with people and plans that needed my attention. For a while, I do some investigation on my main tasks and plan my day with regards to what I will deliver and when. I freshen up for the day, and then head out to a nearby store for lunch – Chicken Katsu Curry, an undeniable hit and fan-favourite in my community.

I wash lunch down with a cup of tea and a few episodes of anime, before tuning into my 14:15 scrum where my team and I share the daily progress of our work. After the Scrum, I use my time to focus on non-eStore related tasks, such as the newsletter finale for Cisco’s Connected Black Professionals community, for which I have been writing weekly communications for Black History Month. As BHM draws to a close, we celebrate the contributions of Black Britons and Black history. This project has been one that I have loved working on and engaging with, every step of the way.

At 3pm, I have a weekly catch-up meeting for a large project that involves providing mentorship to Early in Career individuals who are seeking internship opportunities in the tech space. Within the meeting, we plan our first session and its delivery; in which I will provide a talk to young Kenyan professionals about what being an intern is like in a big tech company, the challenges that I faced when joining, and the tribulations I have encountered during my time so far. Amidst co-authoring the newsletter and engaging in different spaces for different projects, I also begin to draft this very article, which keeps me a busy bee.

From 16:30, I begin to wind down the workday. At this time, I am delivering milestones to the respective project spaces, and beginning to plan my curriculum for the tutoring I will be starting at 17:30. As a tutor at Firetech who also works a full-time job, I often find myself checking into a tutoring shift in the evening soon after checking out of Cisco. On Tuesday, I delivered an action-packed ‘Video Game Development and Design’ session to a fabulous group of neuro-divergent students in a very fulfilling and energetic session.

Finishing up at 7pm, I take a break. Some soup, a latté and a toasted bagel accompany me as I resume where I left off when watching anime. After finishing up dinner and relaxing, by 21:30, I slide my work laptop onto my desk, and log back in.

Why do I log in so late, you ask? Cisco allows me to work the hours that are most comfortable for me, and usually this involves catching me in the evening when I am at my most productive. Though I don’t always work in the evening. I can often be found at my Mixed Martial Arts Club or trekking over to a friend’s house for a late-night mingle. As I live so close to my university and I am technically still a student, I also frequently take the opportunity to visit my campus and engage in student activities and my positions of leadership; Vice-President of the Afro-Caribbean Society, and Department Representative for Computer Science.

Overall, Cisco has allowed me to add a flexible and rewarding career step to my repertoire, whilst also allowing me the time to have a personal life. This is one of my favourite things about Cisco – being pushed to be the best version of yourself and having the freedom to be unapologetically you.

That’s all from me today, though I would love to hear your comments! What do you get up to during your average day? Stay tuned for the next post in our “Day in the life series”, from Maria Gragera Garces, which will be posted tomorrow on 03/11/21!

View the rest of our series, below!

• Maria Gragera Garces – Wednesday
• Daniella Osammor – Thursday
• Steffi Messelberger – Friday