Author: Katrina Schollum

Successful Endace 2021/22 Internship Program concludes for another year

Original Entry by : Katrina Schollum

Our six interns for our Summer 2021/22 Internship Program joined us in our R&D centre in Hamilton, NZ from the Universities of Auckland and Waikato. Their 13 week R.E.A.L (Remarkable, Enjoyable, Authentic, Learning) Internship Program  saw them working individually on commercially relevant, meaningful projects with the support of their managers and mentors.  We are pleased to say it was another highly successful year!

2021/22 Endace Interns working in the Hamilton, NZ office

Presentations Day

Because of Covid lockdowns, the interns’ introduction to Endace was virtual this year – and so too were their final presentations.

The Internship Program concluded with each of the interns presenting their individual projects to an audience.  This year the audience included Endace team members from five countries: project managers and mentors as well as all the members of our Senior Leadership Team.  We were also very happy to welcome faculty members from the University of Waikato, continuing our strong link with the original birthplace of Endace – very appropriate in our 20th year!

The interns gave an overview of their projects and the specific challenges they were trying to address. They discussed the design of their solutions, implementation challenges they had faced, and also demonstrated their solutions in action. They concluded by outlining how these projects could be applied – and potentially extended further – in the future. At the end of each presentation, audience members had an opportunity to ask questions and delve deeper into the outcomes of the project.

Elements of Success

Throughout Endace’s structured Internship Program, interns get to hone their technical skills and put their university knowledge into practice.  But beyond just acquiring technical skills, interns also have an opportunity to gain an understanding of all the different areas of Endace’s business – from sales and marketing, to finance and operations. They also get to develop their communication and organisational skills by interacting with members of the Endace team from many departments.

The interns are supported throughout the Internship Program by individual managers and mentors. They get to observe how teams work together cohesively – in an environment where ideas are respected and individuals are trusted to do their best work. It was fantastic to see these learnings reflected in the intern’s final presentations.

2021/22 Endace Interns working in the Hamilton, NZ office

Our managers and mentors also benefit hugely from the Internship program – which provides a great opportunity to build leadership skills in their intern support roles and gives them the satisfaction of seeing the impact of sharing their expertise.

Following the presentations, Stuart Wilson, Endace’s CEO, summed up everybody’s thoughts when he said “it constantly amazes me how much interns can achieve in a relatively short period of time!”  He emphasised the importance of Endace’s determination that intern projects should be real, commercially-focused projects – and talked about how the intern projects have helped shape product improvement, automation, being able to scale our testing environments and customer experience for Endace.

Endace’s CTO, Stephen Donnelly, commented that an important outcome of the Endace Internship Program is that it supports the wider R&D sector and helps New Zealand prepare future engineers with exposure to cutting edge cybersecurity technology.  Cybersecurity is an increasingly important industry world-wide, and increasing students familiarity with key challenges, tools and technologies is vital in upskilling the NZ sector.

At Endace we are proud of our interns’ achievements thus far and look forward to following their future accomplishments in the industry.  As we conclude another successful program we will now look forward to the next round in Spring, bringing in further perspectives, learning and career development to Endace.

Diversity and Inclusion at Endace

Original Entry by : Katrina Schollum

By Katrina Schollum, People Partner, Endace

Since we established our Diversity and Inclusion Committee earlier this year, we have been busy working to cement the importance of our Diversity and Inclusion program at Endace.

As a group, we have held regular discussions across our four focus areas; gender, ethnicity, generations and people with different abilities, to establish how we can achieve positive outcomes for people and the business, increase awareness and break down barriers. We are committed to community-led objectives that support and celebrate individuality and foster a sense of belonging for everyone. In this blog post we are pleased to share some of our progress.

Establishing Who We Are

It was important to us to understand who we are at Endace, and what is important to us as we shape our path forward.

We created anonymous reporting on gender, nationality and cultural ethnicity and were able to share the statistical data visually with the whole organisation, which we will continue to do as we track our changes over time. We can report we have at least 24 different nationalities within Endace and we are extremely proud of our very culturally diverse workplace.
One of our biggest pieces of work was an internal survey that sought specific input across our four key areas. The Committee invested a lot of effort into asking the right questions so we could understand where there was lack of clarity, what areas we are doing well and what areas need improvement to focus on. As a result, we were able to clarify our key messages and share these across the organization via various channels including workshops, promotional activity such as email newsletters and posters, and team meetings.

Diwali Decoration Competition - Endace
Winning Diwali entry

We were also able to meet a popular requests to celebrate key cultural celebrations throughout the year – such as sharing Māori themed food at our New Zealand offices to celebrate Matariki (which marks the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar). In addition, we celebrated Diwali with a global team competition to learn more about this festival of lights. We plan to promote and celebrate many more of these occasions on an ongoing basis – giving everyone at Endace an opportunity to learn more about other cultures represented in the team.

These activities are all great examples of the success of our community-led approach. By seeking input from the entire team we better understand what’s important and where we can add value to our diversity and inclusion initiatives. Sometimes it is relatively simple things that can make a big difference.

Community Led Initiatives
Marjo Montejo - Endace - reflects on Women in Technology Day
Marjo Montejo reflects on women in technology on International Women’s Day

Our Committee has put together a plan of strategic, measurable objectives from our group discussions. Some of the activities that have already been delivered including calendar events such as World Autism Awareness Day. We also highlighted International Women’s Day by sharing photos and personal stories about what the day meant to our team, and about what it means to be a woman in the tech industry.

We also recently held Cultural Intelligence workshops that were attended by 79.5% of our organisation. The workshops gave us tools to improve on the understanding of cultures other than our own and break down barriers to support greater participation, integration and increase the sense of belonging.

Recently, for Transgender Awareness Week, a member of our transgender community at Endace shared his story in a powerful interview with Sasha Blair, VP People & Legal, to answer some questions about the trans community and his experiences. The recording was shared internally and some fantastic feedback was received. Our ongoing conversations around gender have made a noticeable difference in using gender-neutral and inclusive language.

What’s Next?

Looking ahead, we have planned some thought-provoking activities to celebrate and support individuals. The immediate focus will be educating ourselves on Neurodiversity and understanding how it adds value to our business.

Neurodiversity in the tech sector has at times been overlooked but major tech organisations are making great strides in this area and we are keen to see how we can contribute to these initiatives too.

While change takes time, we will continue to celebrate what makes Endace unique and keep taking steps to ensure our team can strengthen their feeling of belonging, and feel their individual voices are heard, valued and respected. We anticipate the more initiatives we implement in our organisation, the more positive outcomes we will observe. Our agenda will support our achieving an increasingly inclusive environment and we look forward to sharing our progress.

Our 2021/22 Internship Program Begins

Original Entry by : Katrina Schollum

We are very pleased to have recently welcomed six Interns to join us for their 13 week, R.E.A.L (remarkable, enjoyable, authentic, learning) Summer Internship program in our R&D Center in Hamilton, New Zealand.  We had a fantastic response to, and level of interest in, our individual projects and we look forward to seeing what this year’s Interns can learn and achieve.

Induction Day

Working remotely meant a different look and feel for Day 1 of our program with introductions happening via Teams.  Our Interns were introduced to life at Endace virtually, including a welcome from our CEO Stuart Wilson.

The afternoon kicked off with a team-building activity which was facilitated by Team Up Events and involved 4 different teams in an online race against the clock.  Moving around the continents, learning, answering questions, taking group photos, and lots of laughs – it was a fun part of the day getting to know our new team members and testing how good our online communication skills have become!

One of our mentors, Norbert, confirmed the ‘Travel Around the World’ activity was “fun for us, but also a good chance to get to know the Interns and break the ice – which is not easy working remotely.”  After the ice was broken our Interns and their individual mentors had the opportunity to continue the conversation and begin their projects together.

Our Program

We are proud of our history, contribution to ongoing learning and continuing our strong bonds to our company origins in tertiary education.  From day one, our Interns learn about Endace’s history and products and develop relationships with their mentors.  This year, we are thrilled to have three mentors and managers who, in previous years, were themselves Endace Interns and offer unique insight from both sides of the relationship.  Sam, one of the new mentors, said “being an Intern at Endace was challenging but in the best possible way. I learned so much in such a short time, and the support and guidance I received along the way allowed me to make a smooth transition from study into the workplace. I am excited to be able to pass on some of what I learned to the next crop of Interns.”

Across 13 weeks the Internship program focuses on commercially relevant, individual projects and providing structured training including lunch-and-learns to introduce other areas of the business such as finance, HR, marketing and operations to create  a well-rounded experience.  The Internship program culminates with our Interns delivering a presentation at a shared learning session involving Interns and their mentors, members of the senior leadership team and project managers.

2021/22 Interns’ first day in the office
2021/22 Interns’ first day in the office

The Endace Internship Program is a great way to help computer science students and graduates build talent and experience and grow the industry. It also helps us showcase Endace as an employer of choice for IT and engineering graduates in New Zealand.

Our Interns become sought-after graduates with meaningful, hands-on experience and we will be following their achievements with interest.  ­­It was fantastic to finally have our Interns join us in the office so we could meet face-to-face, and we look forward to seeing them share their progress at the close of the program.

Endace 2020/21 Internship Program concludes with big thumbs up from all

Original Entry by : Katrina Schollum
Endace’s Summer Internship Program has concluded for another year.
Our four interns successfully completed their 12-week program working on individual projects in our R&D centre in Hamilton, NZ.

Big Smiles on the Final Day

Our 2020/21 Endace Interns with big smiles on the final day

On the last day of their program, the interns’ final task was a presentation to the business, including senior members from our global team. Following opening remarks from our CEO, our MC and VP of People, Sasha Blair, kicked off proceedings.

With a mixture of excitement and a few nerves, we learned from the interns about their successes and how they got there.  We were treated to a live demonstration of their finished project work and saw how deftly they dealt with the live Q&A sessions.

Afterwards, over some food, drinks – and smiles all round – our interns wrapped up their day with a final get-together with the wider Engineering team.

Final thoughts from this years’ interns were that the program “was a great way to start my career” and they “learned lots – it wasn’t easy but it was totally worth it.”

Our Program

Our 2020/1 Endace Interns getting a final thumbs up from our CEO, Stuart Wilson.

Endace’s 12-week intern program focuses on involving interns in commercially relevant projects.  From learning about Terraform (no, it turns out it’s not about the moon) in large-scale VM deployments to developing a meaningful method for faster QA tests the discoveries and outcomes were significant.

Moreover, the structured training provides insight into the organisation and its operations and also provided training in presentation skills.

It was fantastic to see that not only had our interns learned new technical proficiencies, such as learning a new programming language, but also their growth in confidence as they saw how much their contributions provided value to our organisation.

“Being a mentor for the interns was a challenging but also incredibly rewarding journey. It was an honour to be allowed to help them grow from overwhelmed newcomers to developers competently progressing their project” said Norbert Abel, our mentor from the Firmware team.

With new skills and hands-on experience, two of our interns have returned to Christchurch to continue their studies and we look forward to seeing what they achieve in the future.

We are delighted that our other two interns will rejoin the Endace team and continue to grow their talent with us. Welcome aboard!

And we are proud to continue our strong bonds with tertiary education providers as a platform to present Endace as an employer of choice for IT and engineering graduates in New Zealand.

#Internship #Careers #NZTech #Mentors

Endace’s 2020/21 Internship Program
Kicks off

Original Entry by : Katrina Schollum

Our Summer Internship Program is back! Four lucky interns from a large pool went through our robust selection process and were recently welcomed into the business to start their 12-week program in our R&D center in Hamilton, NZ.

Induction Day

As part of their first day getting to know Endace and the team, each of our four interns was paired with a mentor to complete a team-building exercise (with a little friendly competition). Using only what they could find in the office, and their wits and ingenuity, they were tasked with building a race-worthy vehicle able to propel itself across the lunchroom.  The winner not only got to claim victory but also got to have their name on the build challenge trophy!  The final race, MC’d by our VP People – with her hard-hat on for health and safety – was watched by the full Engineering department, all cheering on the contestants.

Afterward, over some good food, our interns had a chance to get to know their managers, mentors, and other members of the wider Engineering team.  Included in the fun were Endace’s CEO, Stuart Wilson, and CTO, Stephen Donnelly, who were part of the judging panel of senior engineering managers.

“It was great to see the tremendous enthusiasm and teamwork from our interns on display once again, showcasing their innovative solutions and rule interpretations,” said Stephen Donnelly.

Our Program

Endace began as a University project and as an organization we have continued to have strong bonds to tertiary education through our intern program. We are proud of our history and contribution to ongoing learning.

From day one our interns learn about Endace’s history and products and develop relationships with their mentors.  This year, we are thrilled to have two mentors who, in previous years, were themselves Endace interns and offer unique insight from both sides of the relationship.  Joshua, one of the new mentors, said “my time as an intern at Endace really exceeded my expectations, offering the chance to work with people that believed in me and helped me grow my skills and kickstart my career. I am really excited to now be able to do the same for others and watch them grow over the summer.”

The 12-week intern program focuses on involving interns in commercially relevant projects and providing structured training, including lunch-and-learns that introduce the interns to other areas of the business such as finance, HR, marketing, and operations.

The intern program culminates with our interns delivering a presentation at a shared learning session involving interns and their mentors, members of the senior leadership team, and project managers.

Our interns will become sought-after graduates with meaningful, hands-on experience and we look forward to following their achievements.  We are proud of the Endace Internship Program and see it as a great way to help computer science students and graduates build talent and experience and grow the industry, as well as showcasing Endace as an employer of choice for IT and engineering graduates in New Zealand.