Data Engineer Intern Review

It was amazing; it was genuinely the best place I have ever worked. The work was interesting, the office was bright and cheerful, and the people were the friendliest bunch I've encountered. We were treated as equals from day one and given work that matched; none of the clichéd “making tea”.

I felt like an equal. Team culture definitely varies from team to team, with some being much closer than others, but no one would ever make you feel excluded. We were never told we couldn’t do something because of our position. Everyone was very welcoming, regardless of brand, job position, and seniority.

My buddy was brilliant; he guided me in my day to day work and explained what/how things worked. My manager was very busy day to day, but he was always available to set up time with. Again, this varies by team (other interns sat next to their manager, and they acted as both manager and buddy) but in general support will always be available to those that want/need it.

The perfect amount. Business wasn't consistent day to day, but there was always something I could do, whether that was development work or admin. Additionally, if I'd "finished" my tasks there was no problem with mentioning this and being assigned something else. There were also plenty of intern information sessions to keep us occupied!

The project I worked on was developed alongside my team's core project, so I had heavy guidance on what it would be/how it should be done. That said, I was given the opportunity to voice my opinion or make suggestions on how certain steps should be developed and integrated. If I thought something needed to be done my team were willing to listen to what I had to say.

Almost all work I undertook was entirely new to me. Before starting I was worried I'd be unable to cope as I had so little knowledge, but my manager/team took this into account and gave me plenty of time to learn on my own time. They were also constantly available to answer any questions or offer support.

Very very relaxed. It was open plan throughout with much colourful decoration. There were many meeting rooms and all had a different theme, with decoration to match. Everyone was chatty, but the volume was at a low enough level for concentration. We had Xboxes, foosball, ping pong, and a dedicated arcade room for if you wanted to spend 20 minutes relaxing. Great if you're stuck on a tricky problem.

On day 1 we had a number of emails in our inbox welcoming us to the company and telling us what events were organised for the duration. Setting up systems was easy, and if we had any questions HR or IT were easily reached. Before starting our placement we had regular contact on the status of our application

We had weekly "InfoByte" sessions that touched on almost every different area of the company (tech, business, marketing, etc). We also had 4 day onboarding for our specific brand to really flesh out our knowledge (again, covering everything). As part of my placement I took part in a "brown bag" session where I delivered a presentation about what I'd worked on. Anyone could come along.

They didn't want us to leave! From day one we were in conversation with HR about finding permanent roles, regardless of how long you were there for (summer intern, year long placement, etc). We also had the possibility of extending our temporary contracts until a permanent position could be opened. And we were free to apply for any role we were interested in, regardless of team/brand. The company promotes flexibility.

We had lunch together almost every single day. Some people would rotate having lunch with their team, but we saw each other very regularly. We always had end of week drinks together, and attended many company socials. HR organised events for us to get to know each other, and set up group chats for us to keep in contact.

Being central London the prices are always going to be higher in comparison to the rest of the country, but cheap fun could be found if you were willing to look. We also had a pretty broad discount amongst nearby food/drinks places. Living decreases linearly with the distance you're willing to travel; our group lived in a variety of places.

There were numerous pubs (Friday evening drinks were an unspoken reoccurrence) but we never ventured much further. We had a few social events at very interesting venues (basement ballpit anyone?) but these were organised before we arrived. This wasn't an issue however, as Soho + the rest of London was easily reachable on the tube.

There were a number of external social groups that concerned particular interests, and we were free to join these, but generally we socialised amongst ourselves. We did take part in the annual "day of caring" where we provided help to a local company or charity, and we had a sports day that was open to all.