This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I had a really enjoyable year – the work was rewarding, I had good amounts of responsibility and the social scene was really enjoyable. There's scope to change teams and projects if what you're currently doing isn't working out or if you’re interested in a technology being used by a different team.
My team was great and I was given the same responsibilities as any other developer by the end of the year. Naturally there's a steep learning curve and for a short period you feel a bit dead weight but as soon as you're up to speed with the project I felt like I could be of real value
I was assigned a mentor who I met up with a couple of times but the onus is on you whether or not you feel you need to discuss anything. It was nice to have the option but I also had monthly meetings with my dev manager to track progress, personal development and any issues that arose within the last sprint of work.
The start of the year whilst I was getting up to speed was naturally a slower period as they could only commit a certain amount of resources but as soon as I was competent it was perfect. Enough to always have something to do but rarely required having to stay late.
The responsibility increases with your capabilities and it essentially builds up to their entry level developer role. The onus is on you to reach this position but gaining it is actively encouraged. I felt like I had good amount - regularly presenting features back to the business, checking in code on a daily basis, leading releases, having a valued voice in meetings
There isn't any external training or qualifications as such but there were some internal courses that were useful such as Agile/Scrum training and a course on the build and deploy framework that they used. The real personal development however came from the senior developers within my team who were incredible and the crux to me gaining new tech and soft skills.
The Company
Atmosphere was pretty chilled in the office, helped by the casual dress code. There was a good mix of office banter and getting serious work done - obviously the quantities of each dictated by upcoming deadlines. Although teams often worked independently of each other there was still a good atmosphere between teams.
There were a couple of teething issues to start as this was the first time they introduced a tech placement but it improved very quickly and I'm confident that it will further improve each year as teams grow more confident in housing interns and learn best how to harness their skills.
I went on a couple of internal courses in Scrum training and build and deploy frameworks as previously mentioned but the main investment came in the form of having very approachable, patient senior developers and solution architects on hand to pick their brains on whatever problem you were currently having - work or even leisure related.
Flexi Time
Subsidised Canteen
Sports and Social Club
Subsidised/Company Gym
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Above 25 days holiday
Working from home
Healthcare/Dental
I got a job offer so pretty appealing! However there's nothing guaranteed and it's more a case of how well you get on with your team and how well you fit with Asos's way of working.
The Culture
There were only three tech interns but there are a lot more spread out of across the different departments. They create channels for all the interns to meet and create a social scene but no real specific events tailored for this explicitly. People generally joined the social scene of the team they were in rather than siphon off into an 'intern' group. There are Friday beers at the end of every month and the two big parties at Christmas and Summer that are awesome.
London is expensive - no surprises there. Just a case of accepting a beer WILL cost you a fiver and getting over it. The offices are in Camden so there a number of cheaper areas to live in not too far away but again its all relevant - depends how far you're willing to travel in the morning and then factoring in the transport costs. I recommend a bike.
Camden itself can be pretty hit and miss but the beauty of London is you can go anywhere quickly and easily and have a completely different night. The Asos local is a fun place to be on a Friday though.
Yeah loads of opportunities. There is the Asos foundation that hosts a number of fundraising and travelling options, there are a number of different gym glasses, a running club, other charity work through the Princes Trust, and then my team regularly went bowling or the cinema or out for dinner.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Computer Science
London
November 2015