Cloud Engineer Review

It was a great experience to work as part of the cloud team, get to know the people who were friendly and easy to talk to, and the ability to use the latest technologies in order to meet our team's goals. (using the AWS Cloud Platform) as well as applying other DevOps methodologies Although my role was completely different to what I was studying (Computer Networks), It was a great challenge which in the end helped me pick up new skills, both technical and personal.

I received a lot of positive feedback from my peers as well as other colleagues from other departments, which has led me to believe I did a good job in supporting my team with the tasks I was assigned. I had biweekly meetings with my supervisor to ensure I was on track with my objectives as well as tracking my performance. These meetings proved that I was valued by the team as I got valuable feedback which in the end helped with the way I did work as part of the team.

During my time at Cognito, I had plenty of support from my supervisor, team members and other individuals at the company. When I first started I had so many questions about the services the team used. Without a hesitation, I would be assisted by a team individual which was happy to take some time out of their busy schedule and assist me in order to explain in detail what I needed to know. I found this really useful and am grateful for everything the team has done for me.

There was rarely a moment I felt like I had nothing to do. During the initial few months, I spent the majority of the time studying and getting to know the services we use in the cloud team. The team was happy to assist me in my studies, as well as being there whenever I had questions to ask. After this initial phase. I began taking on sprint work and began adhering to our team's policies and work procedures. This meant I was working in an agile manner applying DevOps principles to the work I did as well as picking up support tickets which challenged me or allowed me to pick up new skills by doing work in an area which was originally out of my scope. After the sixth month mark. I was doing the exact same amount of work as my peers in the team, which meant that I was always working on an objective or other projects.

I was given the same amount of responsibility as the rest of the team. I was able to help maintain and manage a number of services we used. Many of these would be housed in a version-controlled repository. a part of this work involved code reviewing, providing advice and assisting if any help was needed for a particular task. Being a highly approachable person for specific jobs such as deployment/deployment issues and assisting in support tasks for other teams was a plus for me as it showed that the work I did obviously impacted and helped other teams.

The skills picked up during my time at Cognito have been more than what I initially expected. Thanks to everything I learned, I now have an idea of what I want to do for my dissertation. Not only this, but these skills will go along way in regard to my future career.

The office consisted of two wings, both being excellent to work in. The overall atmosphere was very friendly and welcoming. On some days it may be fairly quiet, while on other days you would get a glimpse on what other teams are doing. This was a great benefit for me as it gave me the chance to learn each team's responsibilities.

The placement was easy to find and the application provided great benefits to draw in students. The timing of the start date was perfect as I had the opportunity to work alongside a previous intern at my department before he left. This meant I had a good head start and. The workplace gave the interns the opportunity to get to know one another through meetings in the first few weeks. Not only this, but you get to learn about the company and progress in the field you have been put in, in order to perform tasks and meet set goals.

During my time at Cognito, I received a huge amount of support from all my peers and was provided the training needed in order to become a successful cloud engineer. This included AWS certification exams which were expensed by the company, as well as additional expenses for books and learning material.

Newbury is a fairly small town so there isn't much to do. Although, you are only a train ride away from Reading and Oxford which are great nearby alternatives for social activities. Not to forget the beautiful scenery that Newbury has to offer as well as the weekly (almost every week) events in the city center.

Being from the north, the prices down south where pretty demanding.

The nightlife was average considering it only consists of pubs (Most were pretty decent, so overall not too bad).