From PDFs to Widgets: What I Built During My Internship at Corporate Interactive

👋 A Developer in the Making

As a Master of Information and Communication Technology student at Western Sydney University, I’ve always been passionate about building practical, user-centric software. But like many aspiring developers, I was hungry for real-world experience — not just writing code, but understanding how software gets built, maintained, and used in the industry.

In May 2024, I got that chance when I joined Corporate Interactive as a Full Stack Developer Intern. Over the next three months, I would get hands-on experience with a variety of projects, learn to work with an experienced team, and grow more than I expected.

Here’s a look into the journey — from PDFs to widgets and everything in between.

💻 Getting Started at Corporate Interactive

Corporate Interactive is a Sydney-based software company focused on building proposal and sales quoting platforms. From day one, I was introduced to a powerful modern tech stack that included:

• T3 Stack (Next.js, tRPC, Prisma)

• Tailwind CSS

• TypeScript

• MySQL

• AWS S3 for storage

I quickly dove into working with their main product, a powerful proposal-building tool that allows users to create, customize, and manage client-facing proposals using dynamic blocks and widgets.

🧩 What I Built

Over the course of my internship, I worked on a series of feature-rich widgets and tools that made the platform more interactive, efficient, and visually intuitive.

📄 PDF Page Upload + Reader

My first big task was developing a feature that allowed users to upload and preview PDF files as part of their proposals. I learned how to:

• Handle file uploads via drag-and-drop UI

• Convert uploaded PDFs into preview able images using a third-party service

• Ensure pages were rendered in the correct order

• Manage performance issues with larger documents

This was my first exposure to dealing with file streams and optimizing rendering performance — a challenging but super rewarding experience.

📅 Scheduler Widget

Next, I helped build a scheduler widget that allowed users to set dates, time slots, and event information as part of their proposals.

Some technical highlights:

• Implemented date-pickers and repeat-event logic

• Created responsive layouts using Tailwind

• Synced form states using React Hook Form and tRPC

I got to experience how thoughtful UX decisions can really improve the end-user’s interaction with even a small feature.

🔍 QR Code & Barcode Widgets

Later on, I contributed to the QR code and barcode block widgets, which enabled users to embed dynamic scannable codes into proposals.

Here’s what I handled:

• Generated QR codes and barcodes based on user-defined input

• Ensured the blocks were printable and responsive

• Connected them with back-end APIs for data syncing

This was a fun feature to build because it combined both visual output and practical use cases (like event check-ins or asset tracking).

📚 What I Learned

This internship wasn’t just about building features — it was about building the right mindset:

• Writing clean, maintainable code: I adopted consistent formatting, better naming conventions, and followed component-driven development practices.

• Communicating in a team: Daily standups, regular code reviews, and constructive feedback helped me grow faster than I could’ve imagined.

• Working across the full stack: From API creation with tRPC and Prisma to styling responsive components with Tailwind — I finally felt like a real full-stack developer.

🚧 Challenges and Wins

Not everything came easy. One moment I remember clearly was debugging a PDF render issue that only happened on Safari browsers. It took hours of testing, checking forums, and experimenting with fallbacks — but in the end, I solved it with a combination of rendering tweaks and canvas adjustments. That “aha” moment was a huge confidence boost.

Another win? Seeing my scheduler widget being used in live proposals by clients — knowing something I built actually made someone’s job easier was incredibly satisfying.

🚀 What’s Next?

This internship gave me clarity: I love building UI/UX-focused features that solve real-world problems.

I’m currently exploring frontend developer roles in Sydney, especially ones that use React or Angular. I’m also working on side projects involving AI and automation — tools that summarize content, manage emails, and help people save time.

🙏 Final Thoughts

I’m incredibly grateful to the team at Corporate Interactive — especially Corey Baines and Darren Strong — for trusting me, guiding me, and giving me the freedom to experiment and grow.

If you’re a student or junior dev reading this: take that internship, ask questions, and say yes to the challenge. You’ll be amazed at how far you can go in just a few months.

Thanks for reading!
Feel free to check out my portfolio at roshanaale.com or connect with me on Linkedin