PowerVR QA Test Execution Review

I enjoyed the internship immensely as it was able to give me insight into one of the leading companies in the tech industry. The tasks I were assigned were active projects within the company, this meant that the work I was doing was for actual customers. The work was fulfilling as it was technical and challenging,

Everyone was extremely friendly and inviting within the team and related divisions. The core team members invited me for lunch on the first day as well as social activities outside of the working day. By the end of the internship I would consider the vast majority of them among my friends.

Support and guidance was given where needed. Help was given when requested either through another team member verbally talking me through it or by means of video or pdf guides. There was no 'hand holding' in the sense that I was expected to figure things out or extrapolate from given information as should be the case in any engineering team.

Due to the cyclical nature of QA Execution how busy I was depended on the point at which the team was in the cycle. On average I was enough work to last a week at the end of the previous week, however if this was not the case then more work was always readily available on request. The only time when I found myself without anything to do was during the last few days of a 1.5 week period where my manager and line manager were away for holiday.

Being embedded within an actual engineering team and given work that corresponded to the tasks given to other members made me feel very valued. Occasionally due to absences of other members in the team I was temporarily assigned tasks that they had been working on, the level of trust given to me in order made me feel like any other employee.

I have developed numerous skills throughout my time which extend upon those gained from university. These will undoubtedly prove useful in the future as many of the skills (i.e. Putty, bash, testrail) are industry standards that will be used in a wide variety of engineering related university modules and future career paths.

The whole company culture is very relaxed with no dress code and a fairly open structure with only occasional glass dividers between divisions. People regularly chatted to each other during work and were all very friendly and willing to help each other out, whether it be for work or to discuss other topics.

The internship was set up through a university outreach program in my particular case. This meant that things like interviews were set up by contacting me directly over the phone or through a university email account. Once at work the company encouraged interns to socialise together, however this did not include actual arrangements being made for the interns.

Time was taken in order to accommodate any special requirements I may have had at the beginning of the internship, furthermore the first few days were dedicated to introductions to company culture and expectations as well as training in the tools used day to day. Another team member was also assigned to me for the first few weeks in case there was anything I needed to ask.

The rehire rate of the company is very high so I expect to be invited back to work again in the future.

There were around 20 interns during my time at the company, however being spread out across many ares meant day to day my exposure to them was very limited. The company encouraged interns to socialise together, however this did not include actual arrangements being made for the interns.

Being just outside London means that living cost will inherently be higher than most other parts of the country , however subsidies provided on food at work mean that it is possible to love on a fairly frugal budget despite the high cost of rent and travel in the general area.

This was not very applicable as the company is based in a small town. Commuting to central London was easily done if night life was desired.

The company runs a sports and social club that arranges a wide variety of sporting activities as well as theatre or movie viewings outside work hours. Furthermore there are hackathons runs internally a few time a month.