I do have a lot of working experience, while most of it is part-time jobs. So this is actually my first full-time commitment to something that is related to my major study.
This actually happened around a year ago (2025 summer), and I was quite busy (and lazy), so I didn't write anything about it. Since I'm starting to find a new one for the coming summer, I think it's time to do some reflection.
Overall Experience
I worked as a software engineer intern at a company in Hong Kong, which is called Hanink Innovation Limited (or you may be familiar with the name Mo-but). It is a startup that provides AI marketing functions for Hong Kong–based schools.
During the role, I actually did quite a lot of stuff, all of which were new to me. I had never used JavaScript before, and I had never used n8n before. So it took me a few days to do the onboarding training (by just watching YouTube), and then I started working on real tasks. But I would say the videos were useless, and the actual learning happened after I started looking at the real code, fixing bugs, and doing projects (mostly with AI).
Overall, it was quite a good journey. I got to meet some super super nice colleagues. At the beginning, not everything was under my expectation, like the small office and only a few people in the team (or the whole company, actually). But it's fine — I guess it's just the startup environment, and that's quite nice. The atmosphere is quite relaxed and friendly.
My Takeaway
I did use AI for coding before this internship, but most of it was just for homework, and I didn't really work on any side projects of my own. Even for this site, it was just something that I thought would be fun to have, and the idea was copied from another website. But during this internship, I actually built some real projects, and I feel like I now have a better understanding of how to use AI to help me code.
Except for the AI aspect, I also started to look at how, in the era of AI, having a startup or building something is no longer a privilege of big tech companies (although ofc they have more resources, meaning more secure funding). So I also started working on several side projects, which I hope will be in production soon.
Nevertheless, it also showed me — I wouldn't say it gave me confidence — but it showed me the future of the software engineer or programmer role. There is still quite a lot that AI cannot do, so programmers are still important. Of course, AI will improve significantly even in a short period of time, but this role is still needed. However, there is a big step for everyone to cross.
Some Thoughts
Other than how much I learned from this internship, I also have some thoughts on job searching.
First, do not rush. I actually started looking for internships late, so I missed a lot, like career fairs and job openings. Missing all that, while not having an internship or plan for the summer, made me more nervous. So I took this internship quite hastily since it was one of the few offers I got that seemed okay. But it turned out that right after accepting this offer, I got several other offers with better remuneration or from bigger companies.
But never mind — this was still a good experience (I have to keep telling myself that). I did learn quite a lot and met quite a lot of people, so overall it was good.
So I guess this is my first internship experience, and I hope this is not the last one.