InternshipTools and first-week setup
The tools a Forward Deployed Engineering intern uses and how to set up your workspace in week one.
These are the main tools for Forward Deployed Engineering tasks. You do not need all of them on day one; the Level 1 tasks tell you when to install each one.
- Python
- SQL
- APIs
- Cloud hosting
- LLM APIs
Set up your workspace
- Create a free GitHub account if you do not have one, with a professional username, and set up your LinkedIn profile: every task is submitted with a LinkedIn post.
- Create one repository for the internship, for example forward-deployed-engineering-internship, with a README that says who you are and what the repo holds.
- Keep one folder per task, named with the task number and title, so mentors find your work quickly.
- Commit small changes every day with clear messages. Your daily work report uses these commits as proof.
- Never commit passwords, API keys or personal data. Put secrets in a .env file and add it to .gitignore.
Your first tasks
| Task | What to do |
|---|---|
| What a forward deployed engineer does | Explain the FDE role: working on site or closely with customers to build, integrate and deploy solutions. |
| Customer discovery | Interview a small business owner (shop, clinic, coaching centre) about their daily software problems and write notes. |
| Problem to requirements | Turn the interview into a list of requirements and a simple success measure. |
| Working with data | Collect a sample of the customer's data (or realistic fake data) and clean it with Python or a spreadsheet. |