Software Engineer Review

It was my first internship, so I have nothing to compare it with. I do not think the placement made the best use of my skills, but I learned a lot, and for the most part, I enjoyed the placement. There were some ups and downs, and there is still room for improvement, but overall it was a good experience.

I feel like my team valued my input and work I put in, however, that was not true for all the people I had to work with. Overall, however, the company culture was better than anything I have seen before.

My placement leader was nothing short of amazing. I could not say a single bad word about him. Very caring, supportive, and gave very good guidance and feedback.

That varied greatly on different days. Overall, I was far less busy than I would have liked, but I did not make the most of the opportunities available.

The project was not directly customer-facing, so there was no pressure of having to finish it all on time. However, I had full responsibilities of a software engineer, and any full-time engineer working on this project would have had the same responsibilities as me.

Most every skill I learned will be useful in the future, both in terms of soft skills and technical skills. Some of the technical skills are not in my area of interest, and some of the soft skills are not applicable to smaller companies.

Very friendly - most people are happy to talk to you and meet up at any time, for work purposes or friendly chat. The VPs here are more approachable than most line managers in much smaller companies! Amex is very proud of its friendly people's culture and networking opportunities, and rightfully so.

It was the first year the programme was run, so a few hiccups were inevitable. At the end of the day, everything ran fairly smoothly, although the first few days were rather chaotic.

A lot of opportunities to network with both interns in other departments, and colleagues from across the ocean. I would have liked some of the networking events to be replaced with technical workshops, but it is up to everyone's personal preference. Overall, the company is prepared to spend a lot on you, and I do not think you can get that anywhere else.

I am seriously considering going through a large personal change and inconvenience in order to work for them in the future, however, it is not a resounding yes.

The interns were pretty much like family for the most part. A lot of full-time colleagues are recent graduates, so there is a lot in common. You can pretty much go out with someone every night if you feel like it.

Brighton is extremely overpriced for what you are getting, because it is a seaside resort. The prices are higher than in medium-sized cities and can almost compare to London. Unfortunately, the location really was the worst part about the placement. I was really jealous of the finance interns who got to work in London!

It is borderline bearable in summertime, but I would not like to be there in winter. The food is pretty monotone, greasy and overpriced. The places I've been to cannot even remotely compare to Edinburgh.

Brighton is a small city, and mostly a seaside resort. If beach and related activities are not your cup of tea, you will struggle to find things to do. Definitely cannot compare to a city.