Student Software Developer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time here, due to being such a wide variety of work and tasks, and being surrounded by incredibly helpful and motivating people. I was always engaged with the work I was doing, and help was readily available on anything that I struggled with. It has been a great experience to which I would recommend to anyone.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. There was a warm and friendly environment at the company, and never had a problem with anyone I was working with, or completing a task for. Even those higher up in the company were just as friendly and helpful as those working directly around and with me, and I never once felt like I was not being listened to.

I was helped in every aspect of the placement, with alternative explanations and guidance given on any topic I did not fully understand. The reviews I sent out and questions I asked were always met with invaluable advice and suggestions, and really helped me grow my skills in software development and with my confidence in general. Everyone working at the company was like on large community, with no ill will.

I was always engaged in a task throughout my placement, and there was never a boring minute that went by. My colleagues suggested appropriate tasks for me that were always achievable, but also presented a good challenge to help me further myself. If I ever felt overwhelmed or not challenged enough, people were swift to point me in the right direction to get me back on track.

When given tasks during the placement, I was given the responsibility to complete and manage how they would be written and implemented. This was especially significant when I was recreating some of our existing features, with myself choosing how they would be replicating their function and design. I was given more responsibility than I thought I would be, and this was a large positive.

The skills I developed on this placement will be incredibly valuable for the rest of my degree and the future. I had very little web development experience before joining, and have gained a much better and wider understanding of how it works. I have chosen modules in the final year relating to web development, so will do a lot better in that especially.

There was a fantastic atmosphere in the office. People were more than happy to chat and discuss things while they were working, and there was never a time where there was a tense or uncomfortable atmosphere. Everyone was always upbeat, and it was a very pleasant environment to work in, even during the most stressful and work heavy days.

I was surprised at how streamlined and structured the placement was, with a very thorough and engaging 8 weeks of training at the start of the placement, before being introduced to the team upstairs that I would be working with. There were monthly mentor reviews and meetings, and any problems I might have had were very easily raised to those in charge. I was also placed with people that were more than capable of supporting me in learning the basics of how the company worked, and what the processes were.

I was heavily invested in from the beginning, with a comprehensive training program, which had several senior figures in the company taking the time to train me in how to use and interact with the system, and also more generic skills such as programming in C# and writing better SQL. There were frequent learning lunches given explaining all of the new technologies we encountered, and also workshops where we could explore and experiment to further our knowledge.

The future employment prospects are very appealing with the company, and I was told I was more than welcome to return. I may not be moving back to live in the UK permanently, but if I do end up I would be very interested to look further into permanent employment within such a friendly company.

There was a good social scene among the other students and colleagues at the company, with frequent activities including football after work, early morning squash and even some sharing a house together. There were also pub visits after work on every Friday, which was a great way to unwind and get more acquainted with other people.

The cost of living in Crawley was very well priced, and considerably cheaper than where I used to live. It enabled more frequent nights out and meals in groups, which let us really enjoy our time here even more. I really enjoyed living in Crawley, as it suited my personality perfectly.

The nightlife in Crawley was not the best, but we are were a stones throw away from Brighton and London, so whenever we wanted to have a bigger night out, we were easily able to head to a more vibrant area. For your average night out however, Crawley was more than adequate.

There was ample opportunities to get involved, ranging from large company events marking anniversaries or summer/christmas parties, to more unique events, such as having a full day dedicated to team building exercises that involved many fun and memorable activities. All of the activities hosted by the company were always good fun, and everybody always left in good spirits.