The Agoda Internship Program Class of 2017.
Every year, the Agoda Internship Program brings together various students with a passion for travel and technology. The internship usually lasts for a couple to few months, but for some, life at Agoda has gone longer than that. Hear from our intern graduates who have recently rejoined Agoda as a full-time employee — Muhammad, Dream, Not, and Bank — about how they made the most out of their internship and turned it into a full-time offer.
Keep your options open
The hardest thing about the internship is probably first deciding which team to join. While most students tend to follow their majors, Muhammad Athar, a former UX Prototyping Intern who now works as a Design Technologist at Agoda, advises not to limit the choices to the current core skills. “I majored in Information Technology, and I had zero UX design skills and zero prototyping skills when I applied for the internship. But I got the opportunity because I was open to explore and eventually proved that I could learn quickly. You’ll be surprised to see how your skills build up on one another as you learn new things.”
Muhammad Athar has graduated from Stamford University and rejoined Agoda as a Design Technologist, leveraging his previous Agoda internship experience.
“With everything changing so fast, now is time when learnability matters. Here, learning is encouraged and supported, whether it’s learning from your colleagues or through your own work — Agoda is almost like an university,” shares Muhammad.
When in doubt, ask — everyone is willing to help you
Asking for help is never easy, especially when it’s your first time working in a business environment. But for Pongsathorn Chotipanvidhayakul (“Bank”), an iOS Developer at Agoda who previously worked as a Data Team Intern, it was never the case. “My programming skills had improved a lot during my internship thanks to the people around me. They all took my problem as theirs and helped me out.”
Bank is an Agoda intern graduate who came back to Agoda after completing his Computer Engineering study at Chulalongkorn University.
“Whenever you face a problem, make sure everyone knows, rather than hiding it. With so many people trying to help you, you’ll learn multiple approaches to the same problem, and that’s how you broaden your perspective,” says Bank.
Take ownership
Working at Agoda means getting the opportunity to take ownership, even when it’s working as an intern. “Whatever tasks I got, I tried to put my thoughts into how to improve them,” recalls Isara Naranirattisai (“Dream”), a Software Engineer at Agoda who took part in Agoda’s IT Internship and Co-Ops program.
Dream studied Computer Engineering at King Mongkut’s Institute of Technology and did a seven-month IT internship at Agoda before joining as a full-time Software Engineer.
“And it shouldn’t just stop at thinking — you should share your ideas and suggestions. You’ll be heard for sure and might also get a chance to execute them. That way, you can learn things by doing,” says Dream.
Learn about the company as a whole
“Just like everyone else, I learned a lot during my internship,” says Panupong Tongtawach (“Not”), a Full Stack Developer at Agoda who used to work as a Backend Team Intern.
Not took part in Agoda’s 2017 internship program and joined full-time after completing his study in Chulalongkorn University.
“But my learning wasn’t just about programming; it was also about Agoda’s infrastructure, work style, and work culture, which as a whole really made me want to come back,” shares Not.
Agoda internship program in Thailand opens applications in the beginning of every year and takes place over June-July. Join us now!
