Software Engineer Review

The internship was involved working on some really interesting challenges and I learned a lot of new skills. Work load was manageable and atmosphere at work was also very good. The biggest criticism I have is that I feel like the output of my internship will most likely be never or almost never used, which is somewhat demotivating.

The atmosphere in work was very good. There were multiple activities to bond teams together and also intern community was really good. During lunch breaks there were sport activities and whenever new intern joined or left company there were drinks after work. Also having small team was really helpful to quickly get to know everyone around you.

During my internship my team was really busy, because the deadline for producing new version of software was really close. My work on the other hand was very tangential to what they were doing, hence asking for help was somewhat a hindrance to the team. I have never been denied help whenever I asked, however I wanted the actual work of the team to go smoothly.

Days were very different throughout the internship. On some days I was just working on few days long project and on those days work was really interesting, but at the same time manageable. Sometimes during time in between projects I had to look for work to do and it could get pretty boring at times.

In my company there was quite a lot of responsibility given at really early stage. Obviously one could go and look for help, but when it comes to being responsible for your own projects you were on your own. It might be the case that there was a bit too much responsibility given to people who had very little experience.

I think the skills I obtained here will assist me a lot in my future jobs and internships. It is very unlikely to help me during my degree studies, because the main activity here - coding is in fact a part of my course, but it is very small part. Some skills will be useful though - like for example sending emails.

General atmosphere in my office was really good. In some other teams there seemed to be a bit of tension just before shipping new upgrade, however that didn't really happen in my team. Almost everyone was really nice and whenever asked for anything they did their best to help. Additionally there seemed to be quite good relationship between managers and workers.

Most things about internship were organised really well, there was a company house, where people from outside of London could sleep, there was an introduction emails before the internship. The biggest problem I had is that the projects you are working on seem to be set entirely by your manager. That means that some of them are very interesting, engaging and useful, while others might not be used at all.

For this company it is really important to develop people who work here. It is probably one of the best things about it. Even if it won't result in work output if some activity develops your skills the company will probably encourage it. In fact it seems like the main goal of this internship is internal development, which is probably the best thing you could ask for during internship.

Company admits interns from all different years of university and admits quite a few of them in fact. It is surely the case that not everyone will get to work here after university, probably not people who would want to work here will have such a chance. Company treats it a bit like a prolonged interview, hence if you work hard and try your best here it is very likely that you will have easier time getting a job here after uni.

There were multiple different activities for interns to choose from. There were welcome drinks after every intern joined (which happened basically every week during my 10 week placement), sport activities, morale events among others. Also the intern community was really friendly, with people who have been on internship for the second time creating good community really quickly.

The internship is in London, so as it could be expected it is very expensive. Both socializing and cost of living are very big. However there are some good things too. There is a subsidized company house, which means that if you are fine living with a few other people in a room the cost of living can be lowered down substantially. Additionally the intern salary is somewhat proportional to how expansive it is.

There were multiple events organised either by interns or employees of the company. There was a big range of events starting from board games and computer game events, but also there were some night club or pub events. Overall everyone could choose something that would suit him well. There is a good connection to central London so there is everything you could ever want in terms of Nightlife.

There were many activities and multiple groups organizing them. It doesn't really matter what you are interested in you will probably find a group of people who are doing that on regular basis. Sports, board games or some other social activities are all within range of possibilities outside of work.