Junior Software Engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my work placement at Sophos. Not only were my team very welcoming, friendly and helpful, so were the rest of the company at the Abingdon office! I have also gained valuable experience which I will be able to take with me to any other technical roles which I take on.

As I was integrated into my team just like any other full time employee, I was involved in all the regular meetings and discussions about current and upcoming projects. Here I could voice my opinions and concerns with no fear, and they would be taken into consideration and appropriately actioned by those involved. Qualities like this, amongst others, have made me feel valued by my colleagues.

Our team (and most other teams) would have daily stand up meetings where we could discuss what we were working on, if we felt we didn't have enough work, or if anything was holding us back from progressing on our work. This meant that I had a daily opportunity to voice any problems to my manager openly, and help would instantly be at hand so you could continue making progress throughout the day. I also had regular one-to-one meetings with my manager, where we would discuss what I had been involved in and highlight any areas in which I could improve.

We held weekly planning meetings in which we would decide what work would be picked up in the following week, ensuring that all the team's resources (time and people) were used efficiently. This meant that I was always allocated to a worthwhile task which would occupy me for the whole week, and I could request to work on something of interest if I so chose to.

As I was integrated into the team like any other full time employee, I worked on aspects of the project that any other developer would have. For part of it I would be given tasks to do that were in my reach, and other were beyond my capability yet for these tasks help was always at hand or I could request that I pair with another developer so I could learn from them and we would work through it together. Very rarely did I feel that I wasn't directly contributing to the project we were working on.

In the second year of my degree I took a Software Engineering Project, in which we worked in teams to develop a game. We adopted common software development methodologies (AGILE in particular), and coming to Sophos really showed how these processes are used in the industry. I was also exposed to other programming languages which stretched my programming skills, having only used Python and Java previously, which I found really beneficial. Pair programming is used widely across the engineering teams, ensuring that you can work on a problem collaboratively: I think that this allows you to practice and demonstrate numerous transferable skills, namely communication.

I feel that our office had a great balance of formal, relaxed and professional. Everyone was very friendly and the open plan office had a great feel to it: this meant that you could approach anyone if you needed help or had questions to be answered. We had kitchen areas where you could help yourself to refreshments throughout the day allowing you frequent breaks to clear your head when you need to!

Because we as interns were introduced into the company just as a regular employee would be, and they have been taking on interns for a number of years, the on-boarding program seemed well developed and organised.

We were given access to the company's intranet where there were numerous training videos and documents which you could use to develop your personal skills. This meant that you could spend time working on areas which you felt you needed improvement. Unfortunately, there weren't any workshop based personal training and development available to us. However, I believe these are available to full time employees.

Future employment prospects at Sophos are very appealing. They are based in a great location and have fantastic offices. You honestly feel valued as an employee and get the opportunity to work in areas of interest. As a full time employee I'm under the impression that you can also request to work in a different team if you wish, allowing you to broaden your skills and keep your work life varied.

In the year I spent at Sophos there were around 11 interns and I believe 20+ graduates. We would gather at lunch, breaks, and even over the weekends. I felt really lucky to have so many people 'on my level', where making friends didn't prove an issue. After speaking with other students on other placements, this isn't always the case!

I originally lived in Yorkshire, so moving to Oxford proved to be much more expensive comparatively. But to balance this, the wage I received from my placement more than covered the cost of living and socialising. There seemed to be accommodation around Oxford of varying prices, so it all depends on your personal preference of area and standard to how much you spend there. Then there are the better quality bars and pubs (which tend to eat a lot of your money!) but you can also mix it up by visiting the local Meat & Eat, with much cheaper food and drinks.

I was lucky enough to have my car during my placement, so I lived between the offices and Oxford centre. Oxford centre has varied nightlife, with pubs, clubs and bars to suit diverse tastes. Hearing from other students who took a placement at Sophos, Abingdon itself has plenty of pubs and bars too.

There weren't many opportunities directly through Sophos, however there are many opportunities in Oxford to get involved in activities! Oxford has two universities, so there is demand for a variety of activities. Looking closer to work, there is the gym right outside (where we receive company discount) where there are gym facilities, squash and badminton courts and a pool. Then from my own experience, I am really interested in dancing, so I found a huge list of various dance classes which take place all over Oxfordshire.