From Internship to Full-time Hire: Career Growth at Cognosante

We met with Michael Nguyen, Full Stack Developer to learn more about his experience as an intern and how it resulted in a full-time position at Cognosante.

1. How did you first hear about Cognosante and what made you decide to intern with us?

I first heard about Cognosante from a summer internship job posting on LinkedIn in early 2018. Before choosing an internship, I knew I wanted an experience where I could gain valuable industry experience in software engineering. After hearing about how much I would learn while also working with modern tools and technologies, I decided to intern here.

2. Can you briefly describe your career trajectory?

I began as an R&D intern, summer of 2018. My internship eventually extended into the school year as I finished my last semester of college. After graduating, I was given a full-time offer as a Junior Fullstack Developer and have worked here ever since.

In the beginning, I was very new to the product I was working on and the technologies I was using so the scope of my work was fairly limited. Despite this, I was grateful for the hands-on experience I gained from day one—enabling me to something new every day. Since my internship, I’ve continued to work with the same team and my role and responsibilities continue to grow as I learn new skills.

3. Can you highlight one of the projects you are currently working on?

My team and I are currently building a telehealth mobile application that integrates into our existing eSante platform. We’re hoping to provide patients and providers with better access to appointment information and visits from their mobile device, also enabling them to meet virtually. Providers will be able to better manage their appointments conveniently on their mobile device and patients will be able to get real-time updates.
4. What is your favorite thing about working at Cognosante?

My teammates! They make work enjoyable and have helped me understand the value of collaboration and being there for one another. It’s very fulfilling for me to work on a team where we collectively have a clear goal in mind and are able to execute and be proud of the end product.

5. Do you have any advice for the 2020 class of interns?

My advice for the new class of interns is to make the most of your internship. I set a personal goal to become familiar enough with our frontend and backend frameworks so that I would gain the software development experience needed for a full-time position within the industry. By working with the internship program manager and my immediate manager, I was able to gather their input and recommendations on how I could get the most out of my internship, both professionally and personally. I hope the new class of interns will be as lucky as I was in having such a rewarding and enriching internship here.