When Aadi Sanghani started his co-op at Shopify, he did so just before the most high-stakes weekend of the year in e-commerce. And he found it was more fun than he ever could have imagined.
For the past eight months, Sanghani, a third-year computer science student in the Faculty of Engineering at McMaster University, worked as an engineering intern for Shopify. Anything bought or sold via the company circulates through databases that his team supports.
Starting his co-op in September meant being thrown into the incredible experience of learning under pressure ahead of Black Friday and Cyber Monday.
“We had 45 million queries per second,” he said, noting the Shopify globe that showcases the intense global commerce traffic.
“We had to monitor our dashboards to ensure there’s no hiccups – even if our systems go down for 10 minutes, that’s 600 seconds multiplied by 45 million queries. You don’t get to see this anywhere, especially at this scale.”
Sanghani worked on a project-basis where he focused on prototypes and their implementation, including analysis of expected behaviour, failures and fixes.
“As much as we purposely try to break the code, the better our prototype – now we can take all this learning and implement it in a smarter way,” he said.
I’ve never worked on something like that, where millions and millions of people use it…Everything you have to write code for, you have to make sure it’s almost perfect.
Becoming a better engineer
While “imposter syndrome was through the roof” when he began his co-op journey, Sanghani said, he was surrounded by incredibly intelligent coworkers who helped him develop his confidence and skillset.
Shopify incorporates a mentorship program that connects students with employees for assistance with problem solving. Sanghani spoke about his mentor – a software engineer with a deep background in mechanical engineering – who taught him to examine the small details to see the big picture. It’s changed how he approaches his work.
“I spend way more time understanding before I dive deep into solving the problem,” Sanghani said, adding how special it was to learn from a multi-disciplinary engineer.
“That was very eye opening; it was one of the things that I picked up on when it comes to becoming a better engineer.”
Sanghani said he was also struck by the importance of learning to speak in an accessible way. Despite being in a highly technical field of coding, he said, communicating clearly and avoiding jargon was crucial; it prevented the conversation from getting stuck and moved toward solutions.
Connecting with creators
While working at Shopify, Sanghani became inspired by the company’s culture of entrepreneurship. He loved networking with people who had launched their own ventures prior to joining Shopify. Sanghani said connecting helped foster his own passion.
“I’m still developing those skills to get there, but that’s a career aspiration I have – that at some point, I want to start my own company,” he said.
Learning outside of the classroom, Sanghani said, has altered his perspective. It was unlike any other learning scenario he had ever experienced. Getting real-time feedback, navigating challenges and digging for answers helped him grow as a more conscious and purposeful individual.
I will never be able to see the future, but I’ve picked up making sure that everything I’m doing is intentional.
To those who have yet to start their own co-op journeys, Sanghani recommended connecting with others and starting small projects of their own. He approaches his resume the same way he approaches coding – with a prototyping mindset.
Setbacks will happen, he added, but connecting with others helps you constantly tweak and iterate your skill set. Learning how others have taken winding journeys to reach their goals is also comforting; the importance is that you take a leap.
“If you’re already thinking about it, you want to do it. So, you might as well start.”
