Test Engineer Review

I enjoyed the placement. The work was good, varied, and taught me a lot about software that I previously had no exposure to. I was given a good amount of responsibility and felt the work I was doing was valued. Everyone at the office was patient and willing to answer the mountain of questions I had throughout the year.

I was given a good amount of responsibility and felt the work I was doing was valued. Everyone at the office was very friendly, patient, and willing to teach me about new topics that I had had no exposure to. I frequently received good feedback. This made me feel valued.

I was given sufficient support and guidance by management/my supervisor(s). I met almost every day with my immediate supervisor who I could ask questions of and everyone at the office was happy to support and guide me. I also had regular meetings with a more senior manager to check that everything was working well.

I was sufficiently busy on a daily basis. The work was good, varied, and taught me a lot about software that I previously had no exposure to. I was given the freedom to work on projects of my choosing if I had a lighter workload and never felt I was struggling to find work. The workload was busier during certain times of the year, but nothing unreasonable.

I was given a good amount of responsibility and felt the work I was doing was valued. I worked alone on a number of important projects and was given freedom to work on projects of my choosing if I had a lighter workload. I think the balance of responsibility was good.

The skills I developed, and training I received will no doubt assist me in my degree studies and beyond. I learned a huge amount about software development and code based problem solving and enjoyed being exposed to a new domain of numerical problems. I feel the work I did developed a large number of the highly valued skills that future employers will look for.

The general atmosphere in the office was very good. Everyone was very friendly and willing to help. Everyone was also focused on making a good product and the atmosphere was good for getting work done. I could laugh and joke with my co-workers and enjoyed my time in the office.

The work placement or internship was organised well overall. The placement scheme in this office had been running for a number of years before me and I had no issues with how it was run. A senior manager was responsible for running the scheme and keeping an eye on the placement students. This worked well.

In terms of personal training and development, I feel the company or firm invested well in me. I was able to attend a training course on interpersonal communication and always encouraged to tackle problems that may have been ‘above’ my skill or knowledge level in order to push my learning and development.

When I joined FloMASTER, it was a part of the multi-billion dollar American company Mentor Graphics. During my time there, Mentor Graphics was acquired by Siemens, one of the largest engineering companies in the world. While FloMASTER is now only a small part of Siemens, the possibility of future opportunities has only increased.

I lived with two other placement studies at the same office. We got on well, but there was limited social scene outside of the office. There were weekly badminton sessions at a local leisure center which were popular, and there also were a number of leaving drinks/meals and release celebrations throughout the year.

The cost of living and socialising in the area I worked in was good. Milton Keynes / Northampton is fairly cheap and reasonably well priced compared to other places I have lived. It is also situated almost halfway between London and Birmingham so these two major cities were easily accessible by car or public transport.

The nightlife in the area I worked was fairly non-existent. There were a number of options to go to either Milton Keynes or Northampton which were both a significant taxi ride away. It was also straight forward to go to London or Birmingham but these were fairly far away for the sake of nightlife.

There were minimal opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. There was a regular weekly badminton session at a local leisure center that was popular and the occasional leaving drinks/meal but that was all. The relatively small office size, countryside setting, and nature of software developers are likely to all have contributed to this – but I didn’t feel like I was yearning for anything else either.