I'm writing this post at the end of a regular workday with some free time on my hands. Since I've now spent two weeks at Mui Scientific, I thought it would be a good opportunity to write down some of my thoughts and experiences so far.
As a first-year student, I had neither the experience nor the relevant coursework that many upper-year students had. As a result, my job search was pretty discouraging. Out of roughly 300 applications, I received fewer than five interviews.
When I first received the interview invitation from Mui Scientific, I almost didn't attend it for two reasons:
At the time, I didn't think I had much of a chance anyway. I requested an online interview instead, fully expecting to withdraw my application after rejection. To my surprise, they agreed to the request without any issue.
The interview itself went much better than I expected. Everyone seemed genuinely interested in talking with me, and by the end, they said they would let me know the result within a week.
Then, the very next day, right after I finished my CS138 final exam—which I had completely bombed, I received the offer.
I was absolutely over the moon when I got the offer.
After months of applications and rejections, finally landing a job felt surreal, especially after being ditched by another company that wanted me to work below minimum wage (details here).
However, once the initial excitement faded, it was replaced by doubt and fear.
I kept wondering whether I was actually qualified for the position. I worried that I might disappoint the people who had decided to hire me.
Fortunately, everyone at the company was incredibly kind and accommodating from the very beginning. When they learned that I would be returning from a trip to China shortly before my start date, they offered to delay my first day so I could get settled. Every email was answered quickly and professionally, which helped ease a lot of my anxiety and made me feel more prepared for what was coming next.
Time passed quickly, and before I knew it, my first day had arrived.
I woke up extremely early—around 5:00 AM. Since I live in Waterloo and the company is based in Mississauga, I had to catch an early bus to make it on time.
After packing everything I thought I might need, I headed out. When I arrived, I was welcomed by my manager and given a tour of the company.
Mui Scientific is a relatively small medical device manufacturing company, and the atmosphere was much more relaxed than I had expected. People were friendly, conversations felt natural, and the workplace didn't have the rigid corporate feeling I had imagined.
Now that I've been here for some time, I finally know what I'll be working on. My main responsibility is improving the company's internal inventory management system.
To my surprise, I was given a significant amount of ownership over the project. I'll be handling much of it myself, including communicating with third-party software providers. At the same time, the company has made it clear that they'll provide all the resources I need and help answer any questions I have along the way.
However, things can sometimes get very intense. Whenever I propose a solution, I'm often asked a series of questions about it. I need to defend my reasoning or quickly come up with a new approach that addresses the concerns being raised. While this process can be stressful, it has also provided me with valuable experience and helped me think more critically about the solutions I propose.
Although the work can be stressful at times, I've already learned a lot in just two weeks.
One thing that surprised me was how much software development involves communication. Before starting this job, I imagined that most of my time would be spent writing code. In reality, a large part of my work involves discussing requirements, asking questions, proposing solutions, and understanding how different people use the system.
I've also learned that having an answer isn't always enough. Whenever I propose a solution, people often ask follow-up questions:
At first, I found these conversations intimidating. It sometimes felt like every idea I suggested was being challenged. However, I gradually realized that these discussions aren't meant to criticize me. Instead, they're meant to uncover problems before they become expensive mistakes.
In many ways, the job feels less like solving programming problems and more like solving business problems with software.
Even though I've only been here for two weeks, I already feel much more confident than I did on my first day.
There are still many things I don't know. I still need help regularly, and there are moments when I feel completely lost. But compared to the uncertainty I felt before starting, I now have a much better understanding of both the work and my role within the company.
Most importantly, I've learned that being qualified doesn't mean knowing everything. It means being willing to learn, ask questions, and adapt when faced with unfamiliar challenges.
I'm excited to see what the rest of this co-op term will bring. Hopefully, by the end of it, I'll have even more stories, lessons, and experiences worth sharing.
During this time, I finally became a car owner. Although it's not really relevant to the rest of this post, I just wanted to share this small but exciting piece of news (at least to me) on my little corner of the internet.
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