It's been a while . Things have gotten pretty hectic lately . After the memorable semester spent at National University of Singapore , finally it's time for my dreaded internship . I use the term "dreaded" loosely here because from the stories my seniors and other friends that have went through internship been telling me , apparently their perception about internship can swing both sides . One side is about how as an intern , you will be able to learn a lot of stuff , but as exchange , in the first few weeks , you will be having shitloads of works , hardship and indescribable amount of stress . In other words , you will be exploited as slave , yet you if you endured that period of hardship , the rewards will be tremendous . On another hand , there are people who finished their internship period learning practically nothing , getting treated more as an office boy , doing miscellaneous stuff .
Well , for my part , I would definitely prefer to be somewhere in between . Learning a lot of stuff , while still having some freedom of time to do my own stuffs . Fortunately , this is exactly what my internship offers . For the uninitiated , I have had the pleasure of doing my interns at a high-growth startup company called PiktoChart . Basically , it's a company that develops software that help ordinary people ( like you and me ) to create infographics easily . The company's motto basically sums it up nicely : " We make information beautiful " . If you still don't get what an infographic is , well here's a nice little infographic that tells you what infographic is :
Nicely presented huh ? Moving right along . So , what's so good ( and not so good maybe ? ) about the company that I am interning now ?
Well , first of all , it features a flat hierarchy of organization ( which is really RARE in the organizations nowadays , almost non-existent in multinational companies ) . Everyone is treated equally ( almost ) , and the boss will even have lunch with the employees together . But of course , basic manners and respect towards your seniors are expected , as well as the fundamental rules and regulations .
 |
| My workplace . Ubuntu = Developer's best friend . |
There are many good points about this company . For example , colleagues are friendly and awesome . The boss , and co-boss are friendly and surprisingly cool . ( Trust me , you will never expect that kind of boss ) . For those who are used to strict regulations , formal attires and silent workplace , you will need some time to adjust to it . Because this is not your regular workplace .
Why , the first day of work , I was told that the attire is casual , and so I wore a T shirt with jeans and covered shoes . It came as an absolute surprise when I walked in , as I saw some of my colleagues wearing T shirts with short pants and slippers . How freaking cool is that ?
 |
| ze osem massage chair ! |
Oh yeah , in here we have lots of entertainments as well to help you de-stress . Our meeting room is filled with bean bags and have x-box 360 , wii and if I am not mistaken , I saw a ps2 lying around somewhere waiting to be set up . If that doesn't impress you , we have a massage chair as well , lest you desire some massages to loosen up your tensions and stress . There are also coffee powders and lots of other beverages to quench your thirst , all courtesy of the company ( A really nice gesture there ) . All work and no play make Jack a dull boy . Well, Jack would love to work here for sure .
The company culture here is quite quirky , in a good way . Employees will randomly take the balls lying around in the office and throw it to the basketball hoop that are attached to the wall , just for the heck of it . It kinda reminds me of Googleplex in some way ,which is a really good thing , because this mean that this company is definitely heading down the right path .
In a environment where creativity and innovation are much needed , a fun and less stressful environment will definitely help much more than the standard , rigid , tightly regulated environment in the older , big companies .
 |
| Tired ? Lethargic ? Get yourself energized with a sip of coffee / tea |
As Peter Drucker , the father of Organization Management once said " They are not employees , they are people " . And from what I can see so far , there are no employees in the company , only a bunch of friendly people in a close-knitted community that serves a common goal - for the betterment of company .
Nevertheless , the first week of work is indeed quite challenging , as it should be . I have had the pleasure of knowing some great people and learning new stuff . Now , my only hope is to adept to it quickly and hopefully be able to learn things faster enough to be able to contribute and help my colleagues . Obviously , as with many things in life , the first time you are venturing into something new , things are never quite like a bed of roses , but if there are anything close to it , I would say that my experience so far would definitely fit the bill .
 |
| The Mario decoration made up entirely by post-it notes + the basketball hoop ! |
Cheers to a better tomorrow @PiktoChart ( The " Google " of Penang ) ;)
