My Internship Journey at ALPHV Technologies

Written by : Daron Tang

📚 Table of Contents

Introduction
What is your role and responsibilities
Why did you join ALPHV Technologies
How did you prepare for the interview
What was your day-to-day like?
Big Lessons from a Small, Bold Company
Anything else you’d like to add?

Introduction

ALPHV Technologies, founded by Daren Tan (creator of Developer Kaki) and based in Bangsar South, Kuala Lumpur, stands at the intersection of innovation, education, and community. As a System Integrator (SI), ALPHV drives sustainable growth for businesses through software development, community building, and talent development, having established itself as a technology sector trailblazer serving clients within and beyond Malaysia while nurturing the country’s largest tech community of over 50,000 developers. The company’s comprehensive ecosystem encompasses DevRel (Developer Relations), Software and AI development, Talent Development, Job listing and placement services, and now operates as a Global Strategic Partner with Alibaba Cloud, creating a unique value proposition that combines cutting-edge technology development with comprehensive talent solutions to pioneer transformative technology solutions that accelerate business innovation and shape the digital future.

What is your role and responsibilities ?

My role was Tech Generalist Intern – yes, you’ve heard it right! Tech generalist intern, which is not a common role in the tech space. As part of the Technical Team, my main responsibility was developing an RPA automation solution for DNA Health report generation using primarily FastAPI, Python Pandas, and Laravel. My responsibilities were similar to those of a full stack engineer, handling the frontend, backend, and Python automation (with greater focus on the backend), while also managing client communication under the guidance of my mentor, Daren Tan.

The second half of my internship (working part-time as a student) involved an end-to-end data consulting project for a PropTech company. My team was responsible for addressing the company’s suboptimal database – from initial data understanding and EDA to comprehensive data analysis. We concluded with data consultation sessions that identified platform issues and provided insights for both platform improvements and potential future AI implementation.

Why did you join ALPHV Technologies?

So why did I join ALPHV Technologies? It’s actually a pretty random story. During my foundation studies, I was honestly lost about where my tech career was heading. I needed to see what was happening in the real tech world outside of school, and that’s when I stumbled across Developer Kaki. Get this – the founder, Daren Tan, did his Data Science master’s at MMU too! After going to their third meetup about Java Spring Boot, I was totally hooked on the community vibe, and it definitely planted a seed in my heart.

Since ALPHV Technologies was rather the new kid on the block – not your typical giant MNC or MAANG company – I was curious about what working at a smaller place would be like. I wanted to grab the chance to learn directly from Daren, level up my skills, and connect with other hackathon addicts. Looking back, joining ALPHV Technologies was probably the best move I could’ve made at this point in my journey.

How did you prepare for the interview?

My story with this was simple. I posted in the Jobs@Developer Kaki Facebook group looking for internships, and Daren Tan dropped a comment. The process was rather straightforward with 3 stages: CV uploading (and other documents), a take-home test, and finally a take-home test review with a behavioral interview.

Before all this, I was grinding on my Flutter development skills and juggling some hobby projects related to web development. I focused on building projects and participating in hackathons, and that’s how I got into ALPHV Technologies.

What was your day-to-day like?

ALPHV Technologies is a remote-first company where they believe if everything is done right and efficiently, we can stay remote while remaining super productive. I worked 2 days WFO and 3 days WFH. During WFO days, I usually arrived at the office between 9:30am and 10am and would occasionally catch up with the team to know what’s going on. Then I’d sum up my current progress and update my daily to-do list with the team. For lunch, we would usually eat out around the Bangsar area with the team, and we’d have a casual yap session with Daren Tan where everyone was included in the conversation and everyone had a chance to voice their ideas. (Honestly, I miss these sessions so bad!)

After lunch, we’d be reaching the office around 2:30pm where I would enter full focus mode on my project. The morning session was more about reviewing code, identifying issues, and liaising with the team, while the afternoon session would be full focus mode on the development side. My team would stay as sharp as possible on the development front, and if we encountered any critical hurdles where we got stuck, we would host a one-hour meeting with Daren Tan to untangle our confusions.

Big Lessons from a Small, Bold Company

To sum this up, I learned 3 critical things from this company: technical skills, client management, and exposure to the tech space.

Of course, the main thing will always be the technical skills (at least for comp science students). I had a chance to handle an RPA project with another colleague where we were responsible for the front-end, backend, automation, and client management (I know it sounds too heavy, but our senior Daren Tan was guiding us the whole way!). I really had to put my Python skills (FastAPI and Python Pandas) into this real-world project, which gave me experience you just don’t get from school assignments and hobby projects. During the second half, I truly learned the end-to-end process of data consulting. In MMU, most of us only learned stuff in a more focused way (like Advanced Database, Data Mining, EDA), but in this internship, I had a chance to handle real-world data – from database management and understanding, to extracting data for EDA, and finally creating consultation slides for clients. In short, I learned how the real data process works from the very backend to the client-facing side.

The second thing was client management. With client requirements changing constantly, shifting deadlines, and tons of communication in-between, I had to handle everything in a careful, rational, and ‘agile’ way. This was quite a headache since I’d never handled these real-world situations at MMU before. Through several rounds of client meetings and careful discussions, I was able to manage client communications and set realistic deadlines and expectations (project manager jr, anyone? haha). In short, client management was never easy, but it taught me the art of communication.

I believe in this tech space, it’s never just about coding in front of your laptop, right? So the last thing I learned was about industry exposure. Daren Tan, as a mentor, would bring us to notable events in the tech space like Startup World Cup Semifinals and Finals (a global competition connecting top startups, VCs, entrepreneurs, and tech leaders), Google AI Events hosted by Dr. Poo, and I even volunteered at Developer Kaki’s Christmas event. What did I learn? I got to see how startups pitch in the tech space, meet industry leaders, chat with them, and gain invaluable exposure to the tech industry ecosystem. And I believe this is one of the best experiences a student could ask for!

A picture with the team at Startup World Cup Semifinals 2024

Anything else you’d like to add?

Nothing much else, I believe I’ve shared all the essence of my internship journey. Internship hunting is always stressful with lots of uncertainty at times, so I would say focus on what you’re building, explore more tech stuff, and when the chances come by, A LEAP OF FAITH IS WHAT IT TAKES! Daron Tang, ex-intern of ALPHV Technologies, team APEX-01, signing out yooo!!

Company Farewell Dinner with Team APEX-01

A picture of me with the new ALPHV signage

And that’s a wrap for this blog! Got questions? Don’t hesitate to reach out! You can connect with Daron Tang on LinkedIn.

Until next time! ✌️