Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed all aspects of my internship. The work environment was friendly and helpful but I still felt challenged. The work was interesting and fulfilling and I really felt like part of my team (not the classic image of an intern not doing 'real' work). I got to work on a product that got sent to a customer, so I know the work I did is actually being used.

My manager and team valued my opinion and never ignored what I had to say on account of me being an intern. I was trusted to design, review and carry out important parts of our project, showing that there was a high level of trust from the other members of my team. I felt confident enough to give my own suggestions and argue for my ideas.

I felt very well supported by those in my management line and those around me. My weekly status meetings gave me a good platform to explain what I had done in a week and for my manager to give me feedback on my tasks. Review board also allowed for me to get good feedback on my work. I always felt like I could ask questions if I was unsure of anything but my tasks were clearly explained and my manager checked in with me regularly.

Most of the time I felt like I had a clear idea of what I should be working on, the time frame with which to complete it and what I should do once I had completed my current task. There were occasions where I felt like I'd have very little to do (while waiting for someone to complete something else) and then would have loads to do. Most of the time, and certainly on average, I was a good balance of busy without being overworked.

During my placement, I was working on a project with a small team. This meant that I didn't have full control over the work that I was doing but was given lots of individual parts to work on. A lot of the time I was told to work from the specification and do what I thought best. My manager would then look at what I'd done and suggest changes/improvements that would make my work better. I generally felt like I had a good amount of responsibility.

The skills I have learned seem invaluable. The technical skills, in particular, seem very transferable to other ares of software engineering and other jobs that involve a large amount of coding. I've also learned about how to design a good specification, how to review somebody else's work and how to test code that I've written. I've also learned more about working within a team and how best to communicate to make sure everyone is on the same page about the group's aims and progress.

The general atmosphere was very positive. People are chatty without being too distracting, as well as being available to ask for help. The tearoom has a good selection of tea, biscuits and other snacks. My floor had a cake rota for Friday afternoon so people could take a break in the afternoon for some cake and a chat. I really enjoyed the area I was working in, lots of friendly people.

It was quite well organised. I didn't hear much from the company until very close to when I started my internship, so I felt a bit left in the dark for a while. When I started my manager was away on holiday for 2 weeks, which meant that I was being managed by someone else. This went mostly fine but it meant I didn't have any status meetings or any progress goals until my proper manager returned. After that though. the organisation was very good.

I felt like the company gave me the same sort of support, training and development that they would give to a graduate new starter. They clearly wanted me to learn as much as I could from my internship, improve the skills I have, teach me new skills and help me produce good quality work.

I have been offered a job with the company, so my prospects look very good! I am accepting their offer and plan on joining the company once I have completed my final year at university.

The interns had a nice community feel. I wasn't living in company housing so I felt a little bit more on the outside of that group but I did make friends and have a good time. We had intern lunch at a pub every Friday and went to each others' arrival and leaving drinks.

Living costs were ok as I was sharing a place with my boyfriend, so we paid different amounts of rent and what I paid felt reasonable. Food costs were fine as there is as large Tesco in Enfield. There weren't many social activities in the area. Cafes were well priced and the cinema was usual cinema prices. The main cost was the cost of travel into central London if you wanted to do something outside of Enfield.

Night life in Enfield was non-existent. To get some good Night life you had to travel into central London. Obviously, the Nightlife in central London is very good but (as said above) is quite expensive and getting back after going out can be quite difficult if it's late. The Enfield area had pubs and restaurants open late but no clubs as far as I was aware.

There weren't many activities in the local area but plenty in the centre of London, or areas like Finsbury park. I went climbing at the Castle at Finsbury park and joined the company frisbee team that played in a summer league (normally at Clissold park).