Interns before me have written about how amazing The Archer Group is as an employer. I can’t possibly disagree; it is a one of a kind place. Part of what makes it great to be an intern here is the people. Archer is made up of incredibly talented people who work hard every day. What’s more is they are intelligent and interesting and like to laugh—quite a bit actually. As an intern here it behooves you to try and learn what everyone does, as quickly as you can. Just knowing what they were hired to do doesn’t give you the whole picture either, a php developer might be moved around the tech department to become a .Net developer or handle issues with the phone system as needed. Sort of like musical employees.
Starting out at Archer I soon realized that I had a weaker grasp of programming and web development than I had thought. While school had taught me a lot of theory I hadn’t had the opportunity to put it into practice. However, my first project was a Facebook application which was more complex than any class project I ever had to do. With the patient help of my coworkers I learned about Facebook development and finally understood the abstract concepts of programming that my teachers had been lecturing me on. As I learned and progressed, my skill set broadened to include: entering data, very basic system administration and acting as a liaison between a phone support team and Archer employees. Because I’ve been able to touch so many different projects I know we do amazing work and expect nothing less from ourselves when taking on a new project. Even as an intern you are expected to do your best at whatever you are assigned to, even if you’re not as experienced as your teammates. This attitude as well as the laid back environment sets Archer apart from other companies that offer internships.
What’s more is learning is very much encouraged. The sabbatical program is offered to interns as well as full time employees. The program allows you to take a week and learn something new whether it’s a new language or mastery over a piece of software we use. So long as the company can use it (basket-weaving is not allowed…yet) anything goes.
Now that I’ve said everything I wanted to I should include the other perks of working here: beer, Beatles Rockband and the delicious baked goods brought in from time to time, not to mention the foosball and modeling opportunities. As a student why wouldn’t you want to intern here?
