From Intern to Mid-Senior Engineer: My Career Journey

Looking back at my journey from a curious intern to a mid-senior software engineer, I'm reminded of how each role, project, and challenge shaped not just my technical skills, but my approach to problem-solving and collaboration. Here's my story.

The Beginning: Sprobe Inc. (June 2022 - August 2022)

My journey started as an intern at Sprobe Inc. in Cebu Business Park. Still attending university, I was eager to apply what I'd learned in theory to real-world problems. The experience was transformative—I helped build an internal platform from the ground up, implementing features across the full stack.

Growth: Alliance Software Inc. (July 2023 - August 2025)

At Alliance, I had the opportunity to work on multiple projects for a major airline company in the Philippines. Starting as a Technical Specialist I, I contributed to an Agile Scrum team, developing features that directly impacted employees and customers of the airline company.

Notable Achievements

As I progressed and got promoted to Associate Technical Specialist (two levels up from my Technical Specialist role), my responsibilities expanded. I started getting assigned to projects where I was the sole developer—a great opportunity to learn how to work independently and manage my time effectively.

Acceleration: Winedrops (August 2025 - October 2025)

My time at Winedrops was a masterclass in startup velocity. Coming from more structured environments, stepping into my first true startup was a bit of a culture shock—everything moved fast, decisions were quick, and priorities shifted daily. I joined as a Senior Full Stack Engineer, which was a big leap from my previous role at Alliance.

I truly believe I wasn't fully ready for this level yet, but I dove in anyway and embraced the challenge. Even though my stay was brief, I quickly adapted to the intense pace of iteration, shipping features across two Next.js web applications and a mobile app.

Working with React Native for mobile development was a new challenge. The experience taught me that mobile development requires a different mindset—thinking about touch interactions, performance constraints, and platform-specific patterns. I also experienced firsthand how different shipping is on mobile compared to the web: every release goes through an app store review cycle, which can take days.

Eventually, I chose to move on—not because I couldn't handle the challenges or the pressure, but because I had a different vision for the path I wanted to take as a dev. I'm glad I took the leap, because you never truly know what you're capable of until you try, and now I have a clearer sense of the level I'm at today.

Key Technologies That Shaped Me

Lessons Learned

Advice for Aspiring Developers

If you're just starting your web development journey, here's what I wish someone had told me:

1. 1

   Start with fundamentals

   Don't rush to frameworks. Understanding JavaScript, HTML, and CSS deeply will make everything else easier.

2. 2

   Build real projects

   Don't just follow tutorials. Build something you're passionate about, even if it's small.

3. 3

   Embrace documentation

   Get comfortable reading docs and writing your own. It's a superpower.

4. 4

   Learn to debug

   Most of your time will be spent debugging. Get good at it.

5. 5

   Stay curious

   The technology landscape changes fast. Keep learning, but don't chase every new trend.

If you're on a similar path, remember: every seasoned engineer was once a junior. Keep building, keep learning, and most importantly, keep shipping.