Student Intern Review

I had a great time during 12 months of work placement. I learn a great amount from people who worked in the industry for decades. Even tho that work was very important, the work environment never stopped been fun and friendly.

My colleagues treat me as an equal team member and not just a "student". I was given different responsibilities and task which were quite important for the team. I think during the first couple of weeks of my placement, I felt a lot of pressure to try to fit in and help as much as possible. After a couple of months, I was a fully integrated member.

The support I received was amazing, from my line manager to the DevOps. They always helped every time I had an issue or a question, all I had to do was ask. The company does a lot of training courses to teach employees new skills. I was in a few courses in agile methodology and Pi planning. HR helps a great amount in terms of finding courses that employees want. If you find something that you're really interested in, you can simply send an email and they will look into it.

The work balance was pretty good. I never felt was too overwhelmed in work and there was stuff to be done. Every time I finished a task, I would ask my colleagues if they need any help. After a while, I started being more proactive and started taking new tasks by myself. Some times your work is affected by external factors that you might no control over, for example, getting access to AWS or Power BI takes time since Tech Desk needs to contact your manager and set up an account.

I received quite a bit of responsibility during the entire placement. I was tasked in managing and assisting a content team in Gibraltar, planning a roll-out plan for software, UI/UX review.

As a Computer Science student, working with a software team in agile methodology was great. Even tho I learned agile in theory, I was not prepared to see it in real life situation. I learned how software features are divided into stories and all the exterior factors that can affect product development. All the skills I learned during my stay will help me take on bigger and more complex projects. Also knowing how agile works is great for future jobs because it's a standardt industrial requirement.

There are two offices available in London. One based in Stratford(Westfield) and another one in HERE EAST (Queen Elizabeth Park). I was based in HERE EAST but I often spend some time in Stratford office. The atmosphere in both offices is great, a lot of friendly people and laughter. It's a place that makes you feel welcomed. How offices are designed has an effect on that. Everything is an open plan so the team members can interact with each other and have a conversation.

I was the first placement student for the company and the HR team responsible for recruitment did an amazing job. They contacted my university to sort any issues, helped me get into the right team and contacted me often to make sure I was fine. Even my tutor visit was mostly handled by HR.

There a lot of variety of courses that the company offers to employees. I took a couple of training courses in Agile and PI planning which help me immensely in understanding how our work has been managed. Most of my learning came from my team members. Any time I had a question or didn't understand something, my colleagues would take time out of their busy schedule to help me out. It was not something they had to do but they did it anyway.

Been the first placement student, I didn't have any other student around me but the social scene is great among the team. Been located in HERE EAST means we have quick access to plenty of nice bars and restaurants. The whole team would go out for drinks and lunch after completing a big task or reaching a milestone. Westfield shopping mall, it's only 5 minutes away which open a lot more options.

Average living in London is very high, so if you're a Londoner the cost is not very different from other parts of London but if coming from outside London it might catch you by surprise. It's definitely affordable but if you compared to any place outside of London, it will definitely look overpriced.

Bars and restaurants are pretty easy to find around Westfield. The food cuisine is very diverse, you can find any food that you want if you look hard enough. A lot of places are really busy so you might to call in and book a table in advance. Stratford station can take you pretty much any part of London so would suggest exploring a bit.

Charities event happen often, normally involved some sort of physical challenge. During my placement, there were two events for charities, one was a marathon and another one was cycling. There are two gyms within walking distance but if you prefer the outdoors, Queen Elizabeth Park is a great location. The HERE EAST office has big screen located near the entrance which normally shows a big sporting event. I had a great time watching the 2019 world cup there with friends.