My name is Yacouba Traore. I am currently studying my second year BSc (Hons) Information Technology at Teeside University School of Computing.
I have had a great week placement at thinkWhere. During my week placement I was presented with a variety of opportunities. I had a great chance to meet everyone from the various parts of the business including CEO, Portfolio Manager, Business Managers, Accounts Managers, Developers, Service Desk Consultants and Office Administrators.
I have learned how the agile development systems work such as Scrum, as well as the differences between Agile and Waterfall. I have taken part in the different ceremonies including daily stand up, backlog refinement, demo and sprint planning.
![](https://thinkwhere.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/dsc_1485.jpg)
I have also learned about GIS (Geographical Information Systems) and the theMapCloud. I have also created my own map using QGIS where I am from in Côte d’Ivoire (Ivory Coast).
![](https://thinkwhere.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/map_image.jpg)
The thinkWhere development team also worked with me to develop my coding skills including help with JavaScript, HTML and CSS using PyCharm. I used these skills to script a page showing a graph of theMapCloud usage metrics.
The role has allowed me to learn key skills and competencies of IT and business systems. On top of this I delivered 30 minutes of presentation about myself and a project I am working on at university.
Thank you for the great presentation at our monthly meet and eat session @Yacouba18Traore. Great to have you with us for the week! 😀 pic.twitter.com/PeGRU9f2FI
— thinkWhere (@thinkWhere1) April 6, 2017
One of the best things about the company is the people. They were very friendly, approachable and well organised. I have also made a great network of colleagues and made new friends.
I have really enjoyed my work placement. I have learnt a lot and have gained skills that I will take forward with me. I have also been given many opportunities and many new experiences. I’ve gained a deeper understanding of how large IT projects work, which is going to help me in the future.
![](https://thinkwhere.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/dsc_1483.jpg)
Being part of this placement has also helped me to develop my interview skills and my job prospects. It is also very valuable experience for my CV.
I hope to be back at thinkWhere again one day!