Co-op, internship, lockdown - more than was expected!

When Kirria Person approached Spacetime managing director about a co-operative placement, she had no idea it would turn into an internship. Nor did she know she’d spend a good amount of her time working remotely with Spacetime because of lockdown. It was an experience like no other, she says.

Kirria says Spacetime adapted to lockdown quickly, setting up on-line meetings and creating slightly different roles and activities for her. There was no suggestion of the placement not continuing. As a result, her time with Spacetime was a much richer experience.

Over the four to five months Kirria worked on a broad range of activities, including using design thinking principles to build a chatbot that focused on the needs of the user.
"Through this I got a better understanding of how AI-enabled technologies can improve the interactions between computers and humans. I also really improved my skills in communication, adaptability and problem solving," says Kirria, who is studying business and information systems.

Other projects included helping provide Cloud service provider analysis and comparison to enhance internal productivity levels, developing a social media campaign on AI tools and technologies and creating AI project strategies and schedules.

“I realise now how true it is that you have to be adaptable in the workplace. The ability to cope with changes and respond to changed circumstances is really important.”

It was an exciting opportunity to work for Spacetime, a company that makes artificial intelligence solutions for clients but the first couple of days were also nerve wracking for Kirria who worried she wouldn’t be able to contribute to the company.

“However my manager and I set up a goal that helped me clarify what I wanted to achieve from the experience and although I was in lockdown after the first week, I learned far more than I thought I would throughout the co-op and internship.”

The Spacetime culture of small daily team meetings that updated everyone on the status of the project and what everyone else was working on was also really helpful, says Kirria.

“The meetings meant I could raise any concerns or troubles that I was facing. It also helped me understand how other team members were going with their work. As soon as we were required to work remotely, this daily meeting was continued virtually and worked well.”

Most valuable learnings

The importance of effective communicator is key, says Kirria, and not just because you want to exchange information or discuss the issues you are facing.

“You also have to build trust. A company is a team of interconnected people and you need to be clear and transparent. Don’t be afraid of making mistakes and admitting them because we all make mistakes,” she says.

Kirria also learned how important adaptability is in the workplace.

“As we all have experienced vividly, circumstances can change extremely quickly. Individuals and organisations need to adapt to the changes quickly otherwise they are likely to be left behind. Spacetime made a quick transition from face to face meetings to online meetings in response to the covid-19 outbreak.”

The importance of empathy and business innovation was another thing she learned to value highly.

“For each project, I made sure to take the time to define the problem I was trying to solve and to come up with multiple solutions to  choose from. This helped me to challenge my perspective and look at my ideas from different angles.”

Getting an internship

Kirria first heard of Spacetime at an AUT Edge Award employer presentation where Spacetime managing director Alex Bartley Catt spoke. Kirria was intrigued, did some online research, and decided she wanted to try and get work experience there.

“I couldn’t see any job or internship advertised on the website at the time so I decided to go to their office and speak to them in person to show my passion and eagerness to work for the company,” says Kirria.

She was lucky enough to get a coffee meeting the following week with the managing director. “We had a nice discussion on how I could add value to the company and that’s how I initially got the nine week co-op placement, That then turned into an internship so I could complete the project I was working on and keep learning,” explains Kirria.

“I truly value the learning experience I had through this experience and the rapport I was able to build despite the nationwide lockdown.”

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