Hello, I’m Josh, a student at University of Liverpool and I'm currently interning at Harker for my Year in Industry placement!

My role is mainly full-stack software development, but at a small start-up, everyone wears multiple hats. My days range from design to QA to user documentation. When I was asked to write a blog post I did what anyone would do (I think) - reading the old ones. All were great but scoped more to the technical side of the role.

So, I thought I would do something a little different!

Don’t get me wrong though, the tech is great, and I want to highlight a bit of what makes it so enjoyable here at Harker, but I feel being at the very early stages of my career and working for a smaller company brings a whole range of other lessons that will not show in GitHub repos or docs. This blog is more about these parts: the guidance I’ve been given, the inner-workings of a start-up, and the soft skills I didn’t realise mattered so much. What I’m going to talk about I'm sure won’t be ground breaking, but I hope it may help anyone starting out in their first tech role like me, big or small.

The Tech

I’ve found Harker’s tech stack genuinely enjoyable to work with. No old legacy systems mean we get to use modern and up-to-date stack without the 'dead weight' you may find in older companies. On the frontend we use Next.js and Typescript, which are quick and reliable. On the backend we use Go, a surprisingly fun language once you get the flow of it.

When I joined the company, my experience was mostly just JavaScript and PHP, so I really appreciated that the team never expected me to walk in knowing everything. During the recruitment process they were far more interested in strong fundamentals and a willingness to learn. Once I started my placement, I was given the time and space to get up to speed with the codebase and technologies at my own pace.

Since then, I feel like I’ve been learning something pretty much every day. I’m starting to understand why this kind of modern tech stack is taking over the industry. It’s not necessarily ‘bleeding edge,’ but it sits in that ideal sweet spot where everything feels modern without being experimental. It’s modern, it’s fast, and it’s the kind of tech stack you actually want on your CV.

Anyway, now let’s talk about the stuff that really surprised me.

Soft Skills Matter More Than I Expected

One of the biggest things I’ve learned so far is how important soft skills are in a real team environment.

Technical knowledge is obviously important (and something that will come with time), but the ability to communicate clearly, I believe, beats almost everything else. You need to be able to explain what you are doing and why - most ideally in a way that can make sense even to someone who’s not technical. If you possess the skills to break something down into simple blocks, the whole team can understand it, which means they can challenge it, question it, improve it or even spot issues before you do. All of this saves valuable time.

I am, personally, a bit of a rambler. I’d often catch myself going on and on explaining my points. I knew what I was trying to say but didn’t always say it cleanly. I’m still working on it, but I’m definitely getting better.

One thing James (our CEO & Co-Founder) asked me during my technical interview stuck with me:

“Explain to someone non-technical what an API is.”

At first, it seemed like a weird question to me. Why would any non-technical person need an API explained to them? But that wasn’t the point. The question tests how well you understand and communicate something. If you really understand a topic, you can break it down simply. The rest is all about your skills in communication.

For the record, my interview answer was… mid. But I’ve been improving since.

Planning & Documentation: The Hidden Power Tools

Another thing I didn’t appreciate enough before working here is good documentation.

We use Notion internally, and one person on the team, Tom, is basically a Notion master - it’s very impressive. If I ever wondered what was discussed in some meeting about a future project, feature or plan, I'm pretty sure Tom would have it noted down from every angle. It keeps everyone aligned, prevents duplicated effort and highlights any areas we have yet to figure out.

Seeing this in action made me realise how much I want to get better at documenting my own work. Clear notes aren’t just an extra chore, they genuinely make the whole team faster.

Advice for Anyone Starting Their First Tech Role

1. Say Yes to Everything

And I really do mean everything!

Start-ups, especially with smaller teams, often involve doing a mix of tasks inside and outside your job specification.

Sometimes it’s simple chore-type tasks like office cleaning. Sometimes it’s something entirely outside software development, such as A/V work for our partner company (Jamescape), and creating user documentation and voiceover content for Harker user guides.

I think saying yes earlier on makes you dependable and builds trust in the team. Additionally you might also discover something you enjoy! I never thought I would enjoy recording user guide videos, but I did.

And if you try something and don’t enjoy it? That’s actually useful too. Knowing what you don’t want to do can be just as important (maybe even more so) as knowing what you do enjoy.

2. Handling Imposter Syndrome

If you are new to the software industry like I was, I think everyone will face some amount of imposter syndrome. There is always something you will not know or don’t understand. When I got access to the full Harker codebase, it was the first time I’d ever properly dug into a large-scale project and it felt almost like being dropped into a maze. In meetings I’d hear discussions about parts of the system I’d barely touched.

The biggest thing to remember is:

No one expects you to know everything.You were hired because you’re willing to learn, not because you know it already.

Ask questions - even the ones you think sound stupid because they aren’t. Every 'basic' question you ask is a permanent upgrade to your understanding and the more time you spend in the codebase, the more it all begins to click. My week-to-week understanding of how Harker works has grown way faster than I expected.

Final Thoughts

Working at Harker so far has been fast-paced and genuinely rewarding. I’ve learned a lot about tech, but even more about everything around what makes a tech company tick.

If you are about to join your first tech company, I hope some of this helps, and if you’re joining a smaller company or start-up even better! You will be showered with learning opportunities, unexpected tasks and moments of growth.

If all that sounds tempting then you could be in my role next year! Harker is currently looking for their next Year in Industry placement so please check out the job listing and apply!

It’s been an extremely informative couple of months so far, and I’m excited to keep learning and see where the rest of the internship takes me.