Our Devana Labs Internship Story

Internship stories

We brought in a team of interns to help us bootstrap a hosting company. They survived. It was epic.

Each year Devana Technologies traditionally participates in the Case Study Show competition. This year’s challenge was to come up with a complete website hosting solution – from infrastructure to roll-out strategy. The winner would have the chance to actually do this as a Devana Labs commercial project, so we had several teams giving their best to come up with the best hosting solution.

It’s funny that in the end a rag-tag team won the competition with their sheer enthusiasm, drive and willingness to learn and adapt. These four underdogs are Aleksandar Ivanović, Milena Vujović, Tijana Stamenković and Anđela Nešić. Their internship in Devana Labs started in July, where Milan Hakaj and Ivan Ivanović joined them to complete the team. We tried to give them a warm welcome, friendly advice and help whenever we could.

Since the hosting project was already under way, we did our best to bring them up to speed with mentorship, as well as transfer of knowledge and experience in a stimulating environment, and I’m pleased to say that the interns were up to the task.

This is their story.

Devana Case Study Show Winners

Except for the guy on the far left. He’s just photobombing.

Anđela Nešić

Freshman at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences. Loves volleyball, squash and threatening people with sharp blades. Worked in our Growth team.

When I first came I didn’t have a clue what is going to happen or what we are supposed to do. The first week was especially exhausting, but during that week I learned a lot. We got used to lot of things and everything went really good. I felt like I am a real employee and that made me really proud. The personnel treated us like we were a part of their “big family”, and it motivated me to put all efforts to pay them back for experience like that.

 

My tasks during the internship were interesting, always different, and that`s why I never got bored. I was in a department for customer acquisition, always different, and that`s why i never got bored, it arouse my interests. It was not easy, far from that, but it was worth every minute! The experience i got, people I met, team I was working with- PRICELESS! I hope that one day I will have that honor again, because being a “Devana minion” is great experience!

Milena Vujović

Senior undergraduate at the Faculty of Technology and Metallurgy. Secretly a big fan of video games. Worked in our Growth team.

The project that I was engaged in was involved in market research, competition analysis and business development plan for the new product of Devana Technologies – Radiant Host, a unique hosting solution for WordPress websites. Anđela Nešić and Ivan Ivanović were in my team, and our mentor was Nemanja Aleksić, Devana’s Growth Engineer (I am also an amazingly awesome guy -editor’s note).

 

The tasks put in front of us were very often rather challenging for me, since IT is a new sphere of interest for me, and taking into consideration that, during my formal education, I had very little if any encounters with WordPress. However, I did not let that discourage me, so I gave my best to contribute to the realization of the project with my innovation and motivation.

 

This internship, as well as other programs like this one, are an excellent way to acquire very important practical experience, to learn how to implement theoretical knowledge, to make new contacts and friendships, start a career and discover new fields of interest.

 

I believe that this program has made a significant contribution to my personal career, whether it continued in this company or any other, so I shall (as well as my other trainee colleagues) always be an ambassador of Devana Technologies values.

Milan Hakaj and Milica Spasojevic

Milan Hakaj

Teaching Assistant at the Metropolitan University. Counter Strike fan, like most of us in the company. Worked in the UX team.

I think that the Project Lead Ivan Bjelajac chose a good team. they are all amazing people, dedicated to their job, and I adore spending 8 hours with them every day. At first, I thought that they were not so serious when it comes to work, but when the first tasks came along, I was impressed, although it took some time to get used to having a lot of people around you, chatting, collaborating, constantly distracting you.

 

When we consider our tasks I think that they were really interesting, the atmosphere was great, and the work conditions were awesome. This is one great experience, and I don’t regret that I came here from another city every day to spend time in Devana Labs. I like that Devana invests in future of young and capable people, offering everything they need to develop themselves and make their dreams come true.

Devana Labs team

Tijana Stamenković

Freshman at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences. Has an awesome English accent. Worked in the UX team.

First thing you get to know when you come to Devana Labs is that it is a perfect place for you to live. Pardon, learn. They won’t let you live there, mean people.

 

Last month was full of excitement, fun and fails. I’ve never worked or failed this much in my life, but also I’ve never learnt this much. This experience was not just a common internship, this was a journey.

 

At the beginning everything was based on learning, and boom! Suddenly I was already working with two amazing designers. A few meetings with them, and I felt like I was born to make mockups and wireframes. The feeling of creating something that doesn’t exist, like, ON EARTH, and doing it right is the feeling that overwhelmed me at the end of this journey.

 

It is amazing when you realize that you spent time making a THING that people will actually use, while your friends and family were on vacation, enjoying the sun and summer, but at the end, I wouldn’t trade this feeling for the world!

Milena Vujovic and Aleksandar Ivanovic

Aleksandar Ivanović

Postgraduate at the Faculty of Organizational Sciences. Good chap. Worked in the Development team.

Having gotten to know the people here, one thing seems to be common, the first week at a job is always a unique experience! You might feel confused or overwhelmed from all the faces, ideas and possibilities. However from the second week onwards, I found my footing and picked from the myriad of those opportunities I could make my own.

 

Actually, in truth, it took me the first week to communicate that I was responsible for testing, implementation improvements and quality assurance (and not simply lost looking for the coffee machine).

 

Figuring out the possible improvements to the existing software solution and communicating them to the team allowed me to become more confident and make more friends. This is invaluable nowdays as we live in a world of digitalized relationships. My technical skills have also developed, allowing me to contribute to testing leading to better knowledge of hosting systems in general.

 

The responsibility of testing and quality assurance was spot on and I enjoyed the ride. I got to work on a project that would influence many lives and being allowed to steer it in the right direction was… out of this world. One rarely gets to be in such a position. It was most certainly an unforgettable experience which I will treasure for years to come.