Blackbird | Software Engineering

Get Career Ready

Complete work that simulates life on the job. 6-7 hours and self-paced.

Stand out in future applications. Show recruiters you're the right fit.

Get Career Ready

Complete work that simulates life on the job. 6-7 hours and self-paced.

Stand out in future applications. Show recruiters you're the right fit.

Why complete this job simulation

A risk-free way to experience work on the job. Practice your skills with example tasks and build your confidence to ace your applications.

Self-paced6-7 hoursNo gradesNo assessmentsAdvanced

Welcome to Blackbird’s Virtual Experience Program! We are so excited to have you here!

We are a venture capital fund based in Australia and New Zealand. We invest in every type of technology and are unified by wild ambitions. This program is an embodiment of what we value the most as a company and will allow you to explore the compelling work that startups do all over the world.

During this program, you will gain valuable insight into what it’s like to be a software engineer in a startup environment. You will also get the opportunity to practice practical skills such as how to build and verify code, assess cloud infrastructure, and more! The best part? After completing each module, you will have the opportunity to compare your work with real work sample answers from experts working at some of Blackbird's portfolio companies. This will give you the chance to learn from their process and improve in the future. Upon completing the program you will also earn a certificate that can help you stand out during your job search!

We hope that this program will be an interactive and valuable resource for you as you explore the world of startups and build skills for your future career!

Please note: to complete this program and earn your completion certificate, you will need to submit only 3 out of 6 tasks.

Lilypad: The place our startups hire great talent from. 🙌

The Lilypad is an exclusive hiring platform for Blackbird’s 90+ portfolio companies, helping you get in front of startups and leapfrog into your dream job. It’s free and takes less than five minutes to create a profile and fill out your career preferences, where you’ll then get introduced directly to our founders and operators.

Sign up here.

Skills you will learn and practice:

Version Control

Collaboration

React Development

Unit Testing

JavaScript Programming

A/B Testing

Product Analytics

Project Management

Agile Methodology

Arduino Programming

How it works

Introduction from Blackbird

Tasks in this program

Task One: Collaborate Using GitHub with Propeller

1-2 hours

Introductory

Manage your repo using GitHub CLI

What you'll learn

How to use GitHub, a cloud-based hosting service, for managing Git repositories effectively
How to coordinate work among team members, especially in a programming context, and work collaboratively on source code during software development
How to streamline Git and GitHub actions by creating automated sequences

What you'll do

Create a React app using the "create-react-app" tool
Manage code and repositories
Create a Pull Request (PR) and merge the PR

Reviews

Over 900

5 Star Reviews

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"The virtual experience program challenged me to learn about new technologies I would otherwise not have discovered on my own."-- Student from Nnamdi Azikiwe University

"Really enjoyed the diversity of experiences across Blackbird's portfolio companies, and how comprehensive each of the problem statements were. Each experience was a tangible insight into each company while also giving interesting and relevant challenges to tackle."-- Student from Curtin University of Technology

"The program is diverse and dives into various topics. Unlike most programs that focus on beginner level skills and sticks to a single topic, this program is focused on multiple topics like cloud computing, IoT, Software Development Lifecycle etc. Everything taught in this program relates to real life work."-- Student from National University of Science and Technology

"This program enables one to explore various fields and increase practical as well as technical knowledge"-- Student from Swami Keshvanand Institute of Technology, Management & Gramothan

"I liked the way the program made me perform tasks which would be commonly performed by SWE interns at the office and help me gain invaluable insights in to the kind of expectations and tasks which is expected from an engineer at Blackbird. I loved that each task was broken down in to simpler steps which prevent the student from feeling lost in an a..."-- Student from University of Kansas

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Lilypad: The place our startups hire great talent from. 🙌