Software development intern Review

I have really enjoyed my time at Expedia, the team has provided lots of support during my time there, thus facilitating my learning process and helping me grow. On top of this, I was pleasantly surprised with the social activities and lunch & learn sessions organised for interns so that we always felt included and part of a community.

Even from the beginning I felt as an equal part of the team, and that my opinions were valued. As time passed and I got more and more experienced, there was little to no difference between how myself and the other members of the team were treated by stakeholders. Also, I feel I’ve bonded really well with everyone in my team, remaining friends with them even after my placement finished.

I have always received the support I needed, whenever I asked. I had regular meetings with my manager where I had the opportunity to raise any concerns I had, while he provided helpful feedback which helped me develop both professionally as well as on a personal level, by encouraging me to get involved in as many company-wide initiatives as I could.

Expedia runs flexible working hours, so the schedule was quite balanced, depending on day to day circumstances. Even though there were situations when, due to priorities and business needs I would be busier than usually, my team/ the company were quite understanding and never asking more than what was sensible.

The atmosphere was generally quite relaxing and fun. I have rarely felt pressured by my peers and everyone seemed to have quite a good time. Moreover, given the nature of the office we had plenty of opportunities when we felt overwhelmed or tense, to relax either with a coffee or a game of Rocket League.

I believe that the placement was really well organised, with activities for interns so that we learned about the company (regular lunch & learns) and socials. On top of this we were encouraged to get involved in initiatives such as Expedia Code Academy. However, in the second half of the placement, after the HR person that was in charge of the placement students left the company, we heard very little from HR, and felt a bit in the unknown, especially as the placement was coming to an end and we didn’t really knew where we stood and what we had to do next. Luckily things have actually gone quite smoothly for me, as I received help from my managers.

The interns were very well organised and felt as we had a little community between ourselves. This was mainly due to many socials that were organised especially for us. This has created strong bonds between us and continued to organise social gatherings and keeping in touch even after the placement finished.

To name a few: Expedia Code Academy, Women at Expedia Learning and Leading, Hotels.com Gender Balance Initiative, Expedia Day of Caring, partnerig with Next Tech Girls to organise a week of work experience for teenage girls. On the social side there were clubs such as reading, running, yoga, and many more.