Lionel’s three weeks in Silicon Valley

Lionel Müller is back in the yellow world – at PostFinance, where he’s doing his IT internship. Just a few weeks ago, he was working on an application 9,352 kilometres away. Along with 29 other IT apprentices who have also achieved top marks, Lionel had been invited to a three-week work placement in California. This was organized by Exchange Pro and co-financed by Movetia, the national agency for the promotion of exchange and mobility in the education sector. Swiss Post contributed to Lionel’s participation costs.

The apprentices took part in a playful competition, working in groups on a customer case. Lionel’s group developed an app for bicycle manufacturers: “The app helps record your movements on a bicycle, so you can adjust to a better position and prevent knee pain and other problems,” he explains. 

Dealing with setbacks

“We had a very good team spirit. We did everything together – either everyone worked on something, or nobody did.” Customer needs were discussed in the first week, a technical prototype created in the second, and the solution refined in the third. Each apprentice brought different strengths, and the tasks involved in developing the app were split accordingly. Lionel worked primarily on the design part. “But I was able to bring all my experience from my basic training with Swiss Post to the table, from designing right through to programming the app. And to share my experience of working in a team.” At the start of the trip, the youngsters made sure they got enough rest – whether playing sport, at the beach or enjoying some great food.

Towards the end of their stay, however, they spent early morning until late evening on the 22nd floor of an office block. “We were incredibly pressed for time,” says Lionel, indicating one of the greatest challenges. He and his team also had to deal with setbacks now and again. “Whenever the mood occasionally dipped in the group, there was luckily always someone who kept their cool and got everyone going again.”

«Just give things a go»

Most of all, Lionel was impressed by the people he met, whether visiting the Swiss consulate, attending presentations by tech companies from Silicon Valley or spending time in San Francisco’s shared offices, where the apprentices worked on their projects. «I found it fascinating that people had often arrived at their current jobs in a roundabout way. Their careers went in a completely different direction from what they originally planned.»

What is Lionel’s main takeaway for his professional life? “Some of that typical American grit to just give things a go.” He also wants to set himself more strict time constraints and check if a rough (partial) solution is sufficient, or if he needs to keep working on the details. Lionel definitely wants to keep in contact with his colleagues from the group. Not least to celebrate their joint success: their app won in the final presentation. “We still want to celebrate with a beer – it wasn’t possible for us under 21s in the USA.”