Hey Jasleen! So nice of you to have this interview with me. Please introduce yourself to our readers- what and where are you studying and what team you joined at Wise?
Hey everyone, my name is Jasleen Kaur Matharu and I’m studying Computer Science at the University of Nottingham. Over the past ten weeks I have been interning with the Security Product team.
Describe your average working day
My working day starts at 9 and ends at 6 and although it might seem long, time flies by so quickly because there’s always something going on.
Every Monday, Wednesday and Friday we have team stand-ups where we talk about our progress and whether there are any blockers. One thing that I have noticed throughout my experience at Wise is that you’re not alone and someone is always willing to help. When we mention our blockers, a colleague will always jump in and offer support. Wisers really do stay true to their motto by putting their team above their ego.
Apart from these meetings there are other events being held all the time, ranging from regular coffee mornings to virtual lunches over Zoom. Not to mention all the Slack channels, including a Love Island one! It felt like I was back at my freshers week at University, as there’s something for everyone and you really do feel like part of the Wise community.
What have you accomplished here?
The project that I’ve been working on along with another intern, is the development of a Security Backoffice User Interface (UI) that would help both Customer Support (CS) agents and Developers at Wise solve customer queries quicker.
Previously, if a CS agent needed more information about a customer they’d have to ask the Security Product team look up the customer details and send it back to the agent. This can take up valuable time, especially if loads of requests are being made. The UI that we’ve now built will allow the CS agents to search for the required information by themselves.
When I joined the team would say that they had been looking forward to this project being built for so long, so I really felt like an important and valued team member, rather than just another intern.
Why did you choose to come to Wise and not any other company?
I think the biggest thing that attracted me to work at Wise was the values. It’s very rare to find a company that really does care about their customers and employees. Throughout the whole interview process everyone was so welcoming and easy to talk to, which reassured me that this company would be a good fit for me, and ten weeks later I definitely stand by this statement. Wise has an autonomous team structure which really does help your character development as you get full trust in using the engineering services.
After I got to experience the first ever Wise Mission Days, which happens twice a year I really understood what it is to be a key player in the team and how my work is helping the Wise mission. During Mission Days everyone at Wise gets the opportunity to showcase what they’ve been working on over the past 6 months as well as what their team’s future plans are.
What are the most valuable things you’ve learned during your internship and how are you going to apply your learnings to finishing your studies or your future career?
The only exposure I had with Computer Science was through University so my technical skills were limited. This was my concern when I joined Wise as I was worried I wouldn’t be able to pick up the pace.
However, my opinions quickly changed and I loved doing my project because I was learning something new every day. If I was confused there was always someone I could go to who would help me understand the concept. My team at Wise have been so inviting and welcoming as well as always willing to help a lending hand.
My biggest accomplishment to date is seeing what I built being used by our team and CS agents. It’s definitely a nice feeling knowing that you’ve built a product that will be used to help teams resolve their queries and help customers even faster.
How would you encourage someone who’s on the fence about pursuing an internship in FinTech?
To someone who is interested in pursuing an internship in FinTech my advice would be GO FOR IT! This is the biggest thing I’ve learned during my time here.
A month before I was about to start Wise, the nerves started to get the better of me and even though I had already accepted the offer I was contemplating withdrawing from my place. I am now so glad I didn’t do that, because this experience has taught me so much.
You grow as a person and you realise that you will never know until you try. Even if you’re still unsure about what you want to do but you have an interest in FinTech I would recommend applying. You may love or hate it but regardless of this an internship will open up many doors for you in the future.
How do you feel doing an internship before a full time graduate role helped you prepare for the world of work?
I came into this internship loving Front-end development and was sure I wanted to follow that route. However, after being introduced to reactJS I can definitely say I am more of a Backend developer and that’s okay! I now know what I’d like to do after I graduate, which as said before, can always change!
Furthermore, doing an internship is once in a lifetime experience. It really does prepare you for the working world, because in the past few weeks I’ve learnt so much more during my time at Wise than I ever did at university. The content at uni is much more theoretical and for someone who’s a practical and visual learner like me, getting to actually work through the problems is much more impactful. At Wise I advanced my technical understanding, from no knowledge of Spring to now being able to build a product using the Spring API framework.
You also develop your communication, teamwork and leadership skills which are somewhat hard to obtain at university and with your course mates. I wish I didn’t have to go back for 3rd year because I’ve finally settled into the structured working ‘world’ (I never thought I’d say that) and building a service that will impact people’s lives.