Intern Testimonials
Hear straight from the interns themselves on what an internship at SCS is really like!
2020 Winter Interns
Drew Verenna - Muhlenberg College - Computer Science
During my sophomore year, one of my computer science professors had mentioned that I should apply for a summer internship. After searching on a variety of websites for internships, I found SCS, decided to apply, and about a week and a half later I received an email about an interview. I interviewed with one of the developers, Dan, who asked me a variety of questions before having me complete a small program. After completing the program I had the opportunity to talk with Mr. Cichelli. He asked me a variety of questions about Computer Science before offering me the position. Shortly after my interview, I found out that Mr. Cichelli had contacted my professor and asked him to let any of my classmates that would be interested in the internship. I then found out shortly after that a classmate of mine, Erich, had also applied for and subsequently been offered a position at SCS.
Near the end of May, Erich and I started working together at SCS on WebEdit, a web version of the Scoop7 product. Although neither of us had prior experience with web development, we were excited that we would be able to learn something new that we may not have had the chance to otherwise. Throughout the weeks Erich and I worked on WebEdit we learned about a variety of tools that we would need to use to complete this project, such as Javascript, jQuery, Bootstrap, HTML, and CSS. While we unfortunately did not get to finish the project by the time our internships ended, we did get far more done than we initially expected and I am proud of the parts of the website that we did complete.
Overall, I think that my internship at SCS was a very valuable experience. It helped expand my knowledge of programming, gave me an opportunity to work on software that will actually be used, and allowed me to work with a variety of friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable people. I would very much recommend the internship program as a productive and worthwhile summer experience.
Near the end of May, Erich and I started working together at SCS on WebEdit, a web version of the Scoop7 product. Although neither of us had prior experience with web development, we were excited that we would be able to learn something new that we may not have had the chance to otherwise. Throughout the weeks Erich and I worked on WebEdit we learned about a variety of tools that we would need to use to complete this project, such as Javascript, jQuery, Bootstrap, HTML, and CSS. While we unfortunately did not get to finish the project by the time our internships ended, we did get far more done than we initially expected and I am proud of the parts of the website that we did complete.
Overall, I think that my internship at SCS was a very valuable experience. It helped expand my knowledge of programming, gave me an opportunity to work on software that will actually be used, and allowed me to work with a variety of friendly, welcoming, and knowledgeable people. I would very much recommend the internship program as a productive and worthwhile summer experience.
Erich Buerkert - Muhlenberg College - Computer Science
While on the hunt for an internship position for the summer of 2019, I was informed by a professor of mine that another student at Muhlenberg had received a position at SCS, and he encouraged me to apply to the small company out in Nazareth. Not having a position at the time, I decided to send in an application. I received a response within the week, and I came to SCS for a one-on-one interview with a current employee, Mike. Overall, the interview process was fairly straightforward. I was asked a variety of general questions relating to my academic background and knowledge of computer science, and at the end, I was given a small program to complete. I eventually received word that I had got the position, and I began working alongside a fellow Mule, Drew, near the end of May. The main task we were given for the summer was to replicate the Scoop7 application, a product offered by SCS, as a web application. Knowing absolutely nothing about web development, I was excited to delve into something unfamiliar. As the weeks went by, I learned all about JavaScript, HTML, CSS, Bootstrap, web sockets, and various other tools that would be necessary for the completion of the project. Although we didn't finish the web app by the end of summer, we managed to complete a large portion, and I can definitely say that I am proud of our work. Enriching and challenging, my experience at SCS was valuable in understanding the duties and expectations of an employee of a successful company. Richard, Martha, and all the employees of SCS were very welcoming and supportive of us interns, and I would recommend the internship to anyone seeking a productive and fruitful summer experience.
2019 Summer Interns
Ethan Hartley - Northampton Community College - Computer Science
~ now a full-time SCS employee ~
~ now a full-time SCS employee ~
While I have always enjoyed problem solving, I wasn't able to dive into programming until college. Earlier, in high school, the closest I could get was math courses. Past high school, when I got to college, I was finally able to take computer science courses. Later, when I graduated with an Associate Degree from Northampton Community College in May of 2019, I decided it was time to look for a programming job and escape my current position at customer service for Giant. After searching for a bit, I discovered SCS, sent in my resume, and waited. Yearning for a response, it wasn't too long until I heard back from SCS, inviting me to an interview. Previously, I had only had one interview, so I was quite nervous, and a few weeks later, I unfortunately got a call explaining that they had filled their full time positions; however, they offered me one of their summer internships. Of course, I gladly accepted. Knowing it was my first day, I didn't expect much, but after a short meeting regarding onboarding paperwork, I sat at my desk and started on a set of introductory programs. Encouraging me along the way was Nick, a recently-hired full time developer, I was able to work through these programs and learn the in house programming language for SCS. Racing along, I was finished with the programs on day three and started reading up on the documentation. Day four: I wanted to actually get my hands on some more code, so I went to ask what I should do next. Unfortunately, nobody was there, so I went to see what Nick was working on. Rather than send me away, he was kind enough to explain what he was working on: a customer had discovered a bug caused by a global variable. I sat down with him, and we went through the code looking for all the instances we would need to fix. Not expecting it, I got called into Mr. Cichelli's office around day five. Getting a bit nervous, I sat down and he mentioned he was about to take a risk and my internship may be coming to a close...
Letting a few moments pass, he continued by saying the other employees seemed to like me. Unbeknown to me, he was about to offer me a full time position at SCS. Not wanting to rush into it, I decided to look over the offer and paperwork at home. Confident I would enjoy it at SCS, I signed the letter and returned it to Mr. Cichelli a few days later, accepting the full time position. Hard at work, I have been learning more and more about SCS and programming. Squishing the first bug with Nick was the start, and we continued working together on other small projects for few weeks. Once we got a feel for what we were doing, we were assigned our own projects. Rewardingly, all of these projects directly affected the customers of SCS, which is a rewarding feeling. Recently, one of the newer customers of SCS needed to import all previous ads into our online tracking program. Yielding the new program allowed me to not only learn more about the in house programming language, but I got to learn about another language, XSLT, which would be used to convert XML files into our in house format.
Despite being at SCS for only a few months, I have learned a lot about programming. Also, I have been exposed to a variety of programming languages, which keeps every day at work interesting. Naturally, I enjoy knowing that rather than menial tasks, I have been working on programs that directly impact our customers since day one (technically four)... Lately, I have really enjoyed working at SCS, and I really enjoy the environment of the office. Overall, everyone is kind, knowledgeable, and always ready to help, and that's just during working hours. Lunch time is when the real fun starts... (Get an internship, or read the first letter of each sentence to ruin the surprise.)
Letting a few moments pass, he continued by saying the other employees seemed to like me. Unbeknown to me, he was about to offer me a full time position at SCS. Not wanting to rush into it, I decided to look over the offer and paperwork at home. Confident I would enjoy it at SCS, I signed the letter and returned it to Mr. Cichelli a few days later, accepting the full time position. Hard at work, I have been learning more and more about SCS and programming. Squishing the first bug with Nick was the start, and we continued working together on other small projects for few weeks. Once we got a feel for what we were doing, we were assigned our own projects. Rewardingly, all of these projects directly affected the customers of SCS, which is a rewarding feeling. Recently, one of the newer customers of SCS needed to import all previous ads into our online tracking program. Yielding the new program allowed me to not only learn more about the in house programming language, but I got to learn about another language, XSLT, which would be used to convert XML files into our in house format.
Despite being at SCS for only a few months, I have learned a lot about programming. Also, I have been exposed to a variety of programming languages, which keeps every day at work interesting. Naturally, I enjoy knowing that rather than menial tasks, I have been working on programs that directly impact our customers since day one (technically four)... Lately, I have really enjoyed working at SCS, and I really enjoy the environment of the office. Overall, everyone is kind, knowledgeable, and always ready to help, and that's just during working hours. Lunch time is when the real fun starts... (Get an internship, or read the first letter of each sentence to ruin the surprise.)
Bela Madrigal - Lehigh University - Computer Science and Communications
As I enter my last semester of college, I’m beginning to reflect on all of the amazing opportunities I’ve had as an undergraduate at Lehigh. One of the highlights of my undergrad experience has been spending my final summer and winter breaks interning for a company like SCS, where the work is important and the learning is continuous. There was never a day I didn’t learn something new, whether it was a marketing strategy, design concepts, random tidbits about outer space, or even a new poker term, SCS kept me engaged and excited. Even when I came back for my second internship, I was still learning not only about the company but about my own capabilities as well. I’ve been pushed out of my comfort zone to find new and exciting ways to build upon the knowledge I already have, and I have already seen how working at SCS has prepared me for graduation and beyond. I am so grateful to Martha, Richard, and the whole SCS crew for welcoming me and investing in my growth over the past few months. I could not have asked for a better group of people to spend my time with, and I am looking forward to everything that the future has in store for me!
2018 Summer Interns
Matt Gerber - Lafayette College - Computer Science & Asian Studies
In the spring of my Sophomore year at Lafayette College, my Career Advisor, who was helping me research summer internships at the time, pointed me in the direction of Software Consulting Services. After looking into the company and reading intern testimonials such as this on their website, I became quickly interested in working at SCS. Having studied computer science at Lafayette for two years, I had gained exposure to many computer languages. However, I was seeking something more, something in the real world. This is why working at SCS for the summer appealed to me so much.
After completing the interview process and speaking with Richard, I almost immediately heard back. Less than a week later, I began my internship. From the very beginning, I was thrown headfirst into challenging assignments that tested my previously attained, but still nascent, skills in C++ as well as Qt Creator that I had attained the semester previous in my Software Engineering class. This was both daunting and exciting, and I soon came to learn that working at SCS was exactly the kind of internship I was looking for.
Throughout the summer, I worked exclusively with the the small, tight-knit Scoop team (working on a newspaper editorial application). From my first week onward, I was completing small tasks designed to improve on, fix bugs in, or add new functionality to the Scoop7 software, mostly in relation to ScoopEdit.
Such assignments included adding features to the find, replace, and highlight dialog within the editor window, improving article SaveAs functionality, and creating both a personal and shared corporate dictionary system that allowed users to save words in the editor they deemed should be ignored by the built-in spellchecker. Along with these tasks and others, I attended daily morning scrum meetings to discuss my work with my fellow Scoop teammates. Not only did this keep me on track with my work throughout the summer, but it also gave me further appreciation towards my contribution towards the software as a whole.
Overall, my time spent at SCS was one of the most informative and interesting experiences I have gained as a computer scientist thus far. It gave me insight into what it is like to work on a large-scale, group-dependent project as well as create software as requested by a base of consumers. I look forward to using these newly attained skills in my journey as a computer scientist.
After completing the interview process and speaking with Richard, I almost immediately heard back. Less than a week later, I began my internship. From the very beginning, I was thrown headfirst into challenging assignments that tested my previously attained, but still nascent, skills in C++ as well as Qt Creator that I had attained the semester previous in my Software Engineering class. This was both daunting and exciting, and I soon came to learn that working at SCS was exactly the kind of internship I was looking for.
Throughout the summer, I worked exclusively with the the small, tight-knit Scoop team (working on a newspaper editorial application). From my first week onward, I was completing small tasks designed to improve on, fix bugs in, or add new functionality to the Scoop7 software, mostly in relation to ScoopEdit.
Such assignments included adding features to the find, replace, and highlight dialog within the editor window, improving article SaveAs functionality, and creating both a personal and shared corporate dictionary system that allowed users to save words in the editor they deemed should be ignored by the built-in spellchecker. Along with these tasks and others, I attended daily morning scrum meetings to discuss my work with my fellow Scoop teammates. Not only did this keep me on track with my work throughout the summer, but it also gave me further appreciation towards my contribution towards the software as a whole.
Overall, my time spent at SCS was one of the most informative and interesting experiences I have gained as a computer scientist thus far. It gave me insight into what it is like to work on a large-scale, group-dependent project as well as create software as requested by a base of consumers. I look forward to using these newly attained skills in my journey as a computer scientist.