Software Application Engineer Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement year and found it be very insightful . It provided me with my first look into life in industry and all the trails that come with it. The role provided me with a lot of freedom to use my talents in the way I best see fit and allowed m to explore several different aspects of the industry.

At times my colleagues were sow to provided feedback however they were always sure to make sure I was included in the team and treated equally to any other member . This made me feel valued and that I could contribute to help the rest of the team.

My colleagues were always more than willing to help and provide guidance on several issues. Despite being located throughout multiple location in Europe everyone in my team was always reachable and would set aside time whenever possible. This made me feel very valued and helped me grow into my role more and more as the year progressed.

The role was very Ad hoc and the work load varied on a daily basis. On the whole I felt I could have taken on a bigger work load as there were times I had little to work on. I used this extra time to do extra jobs on site including volunteering work, automate tasks for non technical workers and take on projects for different people around the building.

I took on a fair amount if responsibility as I was often the only person in the team on site making me entirely responsible for ensuring the hardware was running smoothly and was accessible to all clients and team members. This was offset however by the fact that when everything was running smoothly there was little additional reasonability to take on.

The skills are learned are very transferable and have even helped to shape my module choices during my final year. The placement also to helped develop some existing skills I gained whilst at university. I also found a potential project I hoping to continue as part of my final dissertation which forms a large percentage of my final degree.

The atmosphere was very relaxed in the office if not a bit quiet at times. You are generally free to work how you see fit in whatever fashion you like.

The internship was relatively well organized and there was several specific support structures et up exclusively for interns extending from introductions to the work place to sport and social events. Due to the Ad hoc nature of the role there was no defined work to be undergone however which at times could be frustrating as I was unsure how best to use my time.

The company provided several e learning training sessions, I was given the opportunity to attend a training conference in canary wharf and my supervisor was always more than willing to provided one on one support. This greatly contributed to my personal development and helped me gain a verity of new skills,

The current team I'm in does not graduated directly from university resulting in there being very small prospects of receiving a direct hire back. Head count is also constantly varying making the chances of future employment completely time dependent. This makes the chances of future employment very low.

There was a dedicated sports and social committee dedicated to arranging social events for the intern community this ranged from bowling and laser tag to nights out and a weekend away. Interns were also more than willing to organize separate events outside of this creating a very inclusive social environment .

I roughly used 25% of my salary on rent and less than 5% on bills. This left the remainder of my salary for food shopping and socializing . Overall I found budget management relatively easy throughout the year.

There are several bars and clubs in the immediate area I was living and around a 20 minute walk from the work place. This resulted in there being a fairly active nightlife for the intern community . The bars were often quite lively on the weekend but were more affordable during the week. On the whole I would say the nightlife was enjoyable considering there was no university in the Swindon area.

There is a wide range of sports clubs available to join and a verity of gyms in the area. As most of the interns lived locally it was fairly easy to arrange social activities' outside of work including day trips and nights out. Overall I would say it is fairly easy find activities outside of work whatever your hobby may be.