Redundancy in a Placement

This time last week, I got an email nobody wants. This week is my last at Cold Banana. Unfortunately, even on placement, my position isn't safe from the tough time the industry is having right now. Although it's ending a lot sooner than I expected, it has been a great 6 months of industry experience. I have met so many great people (shoutout to the CB team), and they really helped me through everything.

When I first started, I barely knew much more than the basics of React, and basically nothing about backend development. After working on 7 different sites, across 700+ hours, I can now say that I feel confident about my position for the final year.

Everything is invaluable, and each thing, no matter how small, has taught me something. Learning .NET and Umbraco taught me about the usefulness of a CMS. Learning SCSS taught me that in larger projects, Tailwind might not always be the best option. I’ve learnt about pull requests and comments, best practices like BEM and DRY.

Another thing working at Cold Banana has given me is the confidence to plan for my own small company. It made me realise that the goal is achievable, so long as I work with people who have similar ideals of hard work. Getting clients, especially in this industry, is hard. It’s a constant grind, and while I’ve not had the opportunity to showcase my work to a client yet, I’m looking forward to it!

It will be a struggle going forwards, I have no doubts about that. I’ve been told by people at my workplace however, that times like these don’t stick forever. I’m coming away from this strong, looking for any work experience I can get my hands on.

Most of all, I’ve learnt that you can’t stop learning. I still have so much I want to do, so many more projects planned. Next up I’ve got:

• A family media server to build
• My third year
• A company to make
• This portfolio site V2

Plenty to do, plenty to learn. Catch you soon!