Software Engineering - Vacation Scheme Review

I enjoyed the insight quite a lot. Whilst I only spent a short time at the company, I was able to get a good feel for the company and was able to meet a lot of different people from a lot of different disciplines. I was also able to get somewhat involved in actual project work.

I felt quite valued at the company I was at. Even though I was only there for a short amount of time, and therefore wasn't able to get all the permissions required to get fully involved with project work since it is such a big company, the team still made me feel very valued.

I received as much guidance and support as I needed at the company. Not at any time did I feel like I had nobody to voice my problems or concerns to should I have had any, and any small problems I did have were dealt with quickly. [This section of the comment has been removed by a member of the RateMyPlacement Team because it did not meet our site terms and conditions]

I feel I have learnt some valuable skills on my insight programme. I was exposed to how an actual software development team works and operates in the real working world, and observe how they communicate with each other and different sectors of the organisation, as well as how meetings were conducted to ensure good communication.

the insight programme was reasonable well structured. We had weekly scheduled training sessions, as well as scheduled networking opportunities. The only thing that could've been better was if the project work could've maybe been slightly more structured, however this is difficult on such a short insight programme at a company working on highly confidential projects.

The general atmosphere during the insight has been really good. Everyone I have spoken to has been very welcoming and has never made me feel like I was wasting their time, almost all of them offering to meet up again during the internship to answer any questions I may have had.

in terms of personal training and development, I felt the company did invest in me quite well. We were given training in different programmes and software, including Microsoft Excel, Python and other visualisation software, as well as workshops on how to make good and interesting presentations and our presentation skills.

i feel the insight programme has given me a good insight into what a full time role would be like at the firm. on the internship, i have spent the majority of my time with those who are part of the team i would be part of in a full time role.

i feel the insight programme has given us a very good understanding of the company culture and the overall atmosphere at the firm. We learnt a lot about the company's values and their reasons for operating how they do, as well having the opportunity to talk to staff from all departments.

i think that the vacation scheme has given me a good insight into the role and my future career path, in that i was exposed to the role and responsibilities i would take in the career path i currently had in mind, whilst also being able to observe different careers i could undertake by talking to those in different departments.

there were many opportunities for networking and meeting other employees at the firm. there were both scheduled events for interns to meet each other and different members of staff, from graduates to directors and other senior members of staff, to less formal opportunities to meet and talk to employees from many different departments.

the networking and social event opportunities were organised well and gave us good time to be able to meet members of staff from many different departments, something really good about working at such a large firm which has so many focuses. Almost all staff also invited interns to schedule time through the scheme to answer any further questions.

we did learn about some of the opportunities which employees could get involved in outside of work, whether that be extra training sessions provided by the company, or events employees organise between themselves. We were also invited to some of these events making us feel very welcome and a 'part of the tema'

i would recommend this insight to a friend. i feel i was able to get a good understanding of the role, the responsibilities i wold have, as well as the overall culture of the company and how they operate. It was also really good to see how such a big firm communicates between the different departments.