By Julia Renner

Noah Appleby, computer science and design ’20, and Suzanne Becker, computer science ’20, both recently completed co-ops at Power Advocate, Inc.

PowerAdvocate provides software-as-a-service and consulting to utilities and oil and gas companies, which helps companies leverage market and proprietary data to make smarter purchasing decisions. They both found themselves drawn to PowerAdvocate during their interviews, where Becker comments that she felt supported, but also challenged, and could tell that it would be an environment that would take the time to teach her while also fostering her independence. “Coming out of the interview,” Appleby says, “I knew that I’d learn a lot at PowerAdvocate; they encouraged me to learn new things rather than simply limit what I could work on.”

Appleby and Becker, two of seven co-ops working in the software development department, are still stay in contact with their fellow co-ops. They worked as full-stack developers, meaning that they got to work on a little bit of everything within their team’s product. They took on work in two-week ‘sprints.’ As a result, they were always facing new and different challenges. Initially they were paired with full-time employees to foster learning; as they grew in their roles, they were given more room to develop. They note that the frequency with which they worked on pair programming developed their ability to work together, a meaningful measure of their progress.

Appleby notes the most meaningful part of his experience was the ability to stay on an extra two months to onboard the new co-op, letting him step into a mentorship role. “I learned that sometimes teaching isn’t about being a master of something, but rather about inspiring others to care about something as much as you do,” he says. The biggest challenge, he said, was being uprooted from the college environment into a professional one. Everyone at PowerAdvocate was friendly, however, and he developed many friendships during his time there.

Becker points to the sheer volume of knowledge she gained during her co-op. “Going forward,” she says, “I have used what I learned in hackathon projects and classwork, and the knowledge comes in handy as a point of reference when I attend tech talks or do my own learning about various concepts in the computer science field.” She found herself challenged by the ability to participate in large-group work. Starting out as a newbie on a team of experienced programmers was intimidating, she says. As she gained confidence, she tried to push herself to speak up when she had an idea to contribute, and her successes encouraged her to keep being bold.

Appleby and Becker both became actively involved in the PowerAdvocate community beyond the 9-5 workday. They both joined the PowerAdvocate Toastmasters club, volunteering for speaking and organizational roles at meetings, and Suzanne took the opportunity to present her own speech. “I always enjoyed the fun, casual meetings and the opportunity to get to know my coworkers outside of the software development department,” she says. The two also planned and hosted an Iron Chef competition and raced in the JP Morgan Chase Corporate Challenge Road Race.