A group of new product designers and software engineers spent the summer working alongside our engineering and design teams, sharpening their skills, putting classroom learnings into practice, and experiencing day-to-day life with the Peloton product team.
They were part of our Summer Associate Program, a 10-week immersive program for new product and software engineers who recently graduated or are preparing to graduate soon. The goal was to expose them to different engineering and design careers, help them network, and gain hands-on experience – all to give them a leg up as they jumpstart their tech careers.
“In 10 short weeks it is incredible to see our associates grow from writing some code to becoming a functional part of the team, participating in all the rituals and practices of a fully operational product software organization,” said Nadir Williams, a Product Software Engineering Manager, and associate mentor.
One engineering associate, Lawrence Yao, 20, from Queens, New York, said the program was the perfect mix of learning core skills and expanding visibility into engineering careers.
“I was able to gain technical experience, meet new people, and see the various fields within software engineering,” Yao said.
Immersive learning
The associates – 11 working in product and one in design – worked alongside our teams at Peloton on real company projects.
“The most beneficial part of this program was the technical skills I gained through my project,” said Nisha Chatwani, 22, an engineering associate from Los Angeles. “My team did an amazing job of creating a project that I could demo on my own. I feel I got a good balance of designing, programming, testing, and presenting the solution – all in 10 weeks!”
Our product teams and leaders also held regular training sessions to help associates learn core technical skills such as how to set up their development environments, how to effectively manage incidents, and how to use commonly used technology and software. We hosted Tech Talks and panel discussions where they could hear candid stories, ask questions, and get advice from others in the field.
“I think it was really helpful in identifying real-world business problems and learning the relevant tools to address those problems,” said Sundri Lai, 27, an engineering associate from New Jersey.
Lawrence said he was able to hone other skills, too.
“I felt like I was able to communicate better, whether in general or to express ideas or concerns about the work I was doing,” Lawrence said.
Associates came on board at the tail-end of our annual Hackathon, a week-long event where our full-time product team members have a chance to work in small groups to bring their wildest ideas to life and compete for a chance to pitch projects to the Peloton Lead Team. Associates were able to join in on voting for best projects, participating in trivia and happy hour events, and seeing demos for the winning projects.
Work hard, play hard
The summer wasn’t all work and no play. We held social events so our summer associates could connect and network with people from different career paths in a casual setting.
“My favorite part of the program was the Summer Ping Pong Tournament,” Chatwani said. “I was able to meet different people across the company and learn about other roles and teams at Peloton,”
“I believe that this experience will help launch the career of our summer associates by giving them the tools to succeed as entry-level / mid-level developers,” said Jose Vila, an Engineering Manager with Android Digital at Peloton. “Through Scrum Ceremonies, code review, pair programming, end-to-end assignments, and other social experiences, they will be able to share with prospective employers how they operated effectively as professional software engineers.”
Chatwani and others said they left feeling more prepared for the future. For Chatwani, this includes a semester overseas and completing a master's degree in computer science.
“I was able to build lasting relationships with people that I believe could help me with my career, and I learned more about the day-to-day experience of being a software engineer which will better prepare me for the future.”
Explore engineering and design careers at Peloton here.
