Engineering Interns Share What They’ve Learned at Houzz
Houzz welcomed a talented group of interns to the engineering team at our HQ in Palo Alto this summer. Here is what a few of them had to say about what they learned during their internship and their favorite thing about working at Houzz.
Ziran Ling (Back-End Engineer) What I learned: I’ve learned many things from my experience with Houzz, including a new programming language and different aspects of web servers and APIs that I hadn’t been exposed to previously.
Favorite thing about Houzz: I really like the working environment. People work closely together here. If you talk with the project leads and show your interest in a project, they will likely let you work on it, which is a great way to learn. You have more opportunities to be exposed to different projects and acquire new skill sets.
Theresa Nguy (3D Artist) What I learned: I learned how to use different tools to work on 3D projects, like making dynamic furniture models. My team is very supportive and helps me whenever I have questions.
Favorite thing about Houzz: I really enjoy the company culture and focus on teamwork at Houzz. As a recent graduate, the work environment made me feel very comfortable.
Wenqin Wang (Growth Engineer) What I learned: I’m working on the growth team as a full-stack web developer to help users get the most out of their Houzz experience. As an intern, I’ve learned a lot about Web development (Javascript, Ajax, http, php), and since growth is very consumer facing, I’ve gained some experience using marketing and design tools. I also now know more about Game of Thrones than I thought possible because our team is so into the show that we often have Q&A sessions about it!
Favorite thing about Houzz: People and culture! I definitely love all of the friendly people who offer help, support and happiness. I also love the food (different dinner caterers every day and birthday desserts every Friday), the location (downtown Palo Alto), and our office (it feels very homey, and I wear Houzz slippers every day!).
Chang Liu (Front-End Engineer) What I learned: This is my first time working as a front-end engineer in an industry setting. Prior to this, my web projects have been personal ones and small in scope. With that, it’s been a meaningful experience learning how to familiarize myself with and write professional client-side code. Coming into this internship, I had little experience with React and Flux patterns, but I definitely feel comfortable using them now.
Favorite thing about Houzz: I think Houzz is the ideal size company for me. It is still growing at a rapid rate, so the scope of the projects we take on are large and ambitious. That, plus the size of the engineering department, really makes you feel like an integral part of the company. It also helps that we receive mentorship from some of the nicest engineers I’ve ever met and work in an aesthetically pleasing office (of course, since Houzz is an interior design platform!).