Employee Q&A: Tisski Intern Shares His Experience

BSc Computer Science student, Shafqat Ahmed, started his internship with Tisski just nine months ago. As a third-year University of Bradford student, he needed to find a relevant company to gain some real-world experience in his placement year. Tisski were only too happy to have him.

We caught up with Shafqat to see how he has been finding the experience and what his plans are for the future.

How have you found your experience interning with Tisski so far?

It’s been enjoyable and informative. Tisski has given me a brilliant learning plan and valuable project experience, which is crucial for me to get to know how to work in a team and under time constraints. The people at Tisski are brilliant because they’re always there to help and lift you up when you are finding something difficult. The team always appreciate the work you put in and make sure it doesn’t go unnoticed, so that really makes you challenge yourself more and aim higher.

What kinds of activities have you been doing day-to-day as part of your role?

My role at the beginning was to shadow my mentor and follow him into the world of Dynamics 365 and the Power Platform but after consistent hard work, I was made part of the project team working for Cumbria Constabulary in November 2020.

While working on the project, I was building the canvas apps and making sure they met requirements. I would occasionally work on flows, learning about and implementing new functionality for Cumbria. As the project has gone live, I now use the Microsoft Power Platform Canvas Apps and Power Automate to fix any queries. I’m also using some of my time to prepare for Microsoft certification (PL-200).

How does the work you do at Tisski go hand in hand with your studies?

As well as the teamwork aspect, the programming and the problem-solving side to this role go hand in hand with my uni work as the same logic needs to be applied. At Tisski, I’ve had to break down problems and work them out step by step, exactly as I would for a uni project.

What are some of the most important things you’ve learnt on your placement year?

There are so many important lessons I have learnt at Tisski. Communication is key to project success; I’ve learnt to keep things clear, always speak professionally when discussing work with a customer and not to keep things in the dark. If you have a problem, it’s better to say early.

I’ve also learnt the importance of not overworking. My line manager, Jess, helped me see this very early on and I’m grateful as I was starting to feel the early damage burnout can do. I was in the mindset of proving myself, so I was continuing to work without taking break from the screen.

Lastly, Tisski has taught me is to push myself to new heights and try new things. I believe Tisski saw potential in me that I didn’t see in myself when I got put on the Cumbria project. I really couldn’t believe I got project exposure so early on.

How will you apply what you have learnt at Tisski to your studies or in future roles?

The project experience is really going to elevate my game when working in a project team in my final year. My communication, work ethic and organisation have improved at Tisski, and this has laid a very strong foundation for any future roles I might take on. This is my first job, so everything I’m doing is a chance to learn and will prove very useful in the future.

What’s the best thing about working for Tisski?

The best thing about Tisski is the people. They are the most positive, genuine, and helpful people and have made my experience so much more enjoyable. Before I got this role, I always afraid of failure and making a lot of mistakes but working at Tisski has totally changed my view as it has allowed me to learn from mistakes. My colleagues have played a big part in that, always checking up on me to make sure I am comfortable and that I understand the task that’s been given to me.

What are your career aspirations?

Working with the Microsoft Power Platform, I have loved the user experience and customisable functionality elements. I’ve looked at the paths available with this technology and the end goal would be to become a Power Platform Architect.

Microsoft exams are a great way to test yourself and see how well you know the platform. This will take a lot of hard work and determination, but I believe with Tisski this is possible as I’ve already achieved so much in a short space of time.

What’s next for you?

I have gratefully accepted a part-time position with Tisski, so I’ll be starting that in September and it’ll last through my final year of uni. I’m so pleased because the Microsoft Power Platform is moving very fast in its changes and new functionality, so I didn’t want my knowledge to become outdated. Until September, I will continue with Tisski full-time.