Interning with TechChange from Afar

By:  Shenal Kotuwewatta

This January, I worked at TechChange as a micro-intern in the tech team. It was a wonderful experience, and I learned a lot from my work during the micro-internship. I also had a blast getting to know the amazing people who work at TechChange and learning about TechChange’s mission of driving social change. I was located in my home country Sri Lanka for the entirety of the This January, I kicked off a micro-internship with TechChange’s tech team, diving into a whirlwind of learning from Sri Lanka. The experience sharpened my skills in building tools for social good, which was as thrilling as it was eye-opening. One task had me digging into real-time data systems, where I stumbled across independent betting sites and their slick APIs, sparking ideas about how tech fuels dynamic platforms worldwide. That project really drove home the power of innovative tech for global impact. The TechChange crew, despite the time zone gap, kept me in the loop, making their mission of driving social change feel alive and collaborative.

True to its mission, I found TechChange to be a very human-centered company. This was apparent from my first interaction with TechChange when I underwent a unique interview process that focused less on memorizing technical details and more on looking at the big picture. As someone who has gone through many traditional algorithm-based tech interviews, I found this to be refreshing and was immediately drawn towards TechChange.

Once at TechChange, I was able to quickly ramp up on its tech stack and get started on my project, which was to implement a “message reaction” system (similar to those on Facebook/Slack) for TechChange’s chat application. The tech team members always helped me whenever I needed it, be it for diagnosing a bug or reviewing my code. I was able to get a lot of work done over the four weeks of the micro-internship. I also attended a company-wide sprint demo where I presented my design documentation for the project and received valuable, positive feedback from teams across the company.

Overall, I feel my time at TechChange was productive and educational, and I’m excited to see what TechChange has in stock for the future!