Experience Nansen: Being an Intern

By: Adlai Abdelrazaq, Junior Frontend Developer

My experience as an intern at Nansen was one marked with considerable growth, learning, and a lot of fun along the way.

One of the first things I noticed about Nansen, before I joined the organization, was the laid-back atmosphere. This atmosphere was immediately present during my introduction to Nansen at DePaul University’s job fair. As well as during the interview process.

The employees I talked to didn’t just try to understand how I could be an asset to Nansen. They also tried to understand who I was and what assets I had. This has been a constant throughout my experience at Nansen.

I was given responsibility almost as soon as I began working at Nansen. Towards the end of my internship, I had the opportunity to architect and build a website for Chicago CRED. They are a non-profit focused on breaking the cycle of gun violence in Chicago. They do this by working directly with the individuals who are most likely to carry a gun or get shot, and with the communities where gun violence is most concentrated.

The opportunity to make a website for a cause that benefits my community, as well as choose the technology, was an incredible opportunity. It made working at Nansen a blast.

The culture at Nansen is great. Nansen’s development team is a tight-knit group of talented developers with a diverse set of interests. They are always open and available to help out with a tricky bug, talk about last night’s game, or even jump down a conspiracy theory rabbit hole.

Nansen's environment allows for growth - back-end developers may have to do front-end work and vice-versa. Despite being a front-end developer, I had the opportunity to write an API, implement a product filtering option, and modify existing CMS properties. In being given these tasks, it has given me variety in work schedule, strengthened my C# ability, and allowed for me to become a greater asset to my team.

I had a great time at Nansen as an intern and was thrilled when they offered me a full-time role. Since then, Chicago CRED’s site launched to great success and a happy client. I was able to cash in on some paid time off. And I have been continuing to improve as a developer.

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