Software Developer/Cybersecurity Student Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement at Roke where I worked collaboratively with 13 other interns in our own dedicated room on several different group projects, in a friendly environment where you're encouraged to learn and can communicate with permanent staff in a peer-like manner. The location was okay, even though there was a commute living in Southampton there are frequent mini bus trips to the train station, and the surrounding area is wonderful to experience on lunch time breaks.

The other interns I joined with ranged from first to third year university students who were predominantly taking a computer science degree but also consisted of a Mathematician and Chemistry student. Despite this we worked together well sharing skills or working with other groups where another member had more experience. Compared to university group projects this was considerably more professional and productive.

Our supervisors were frequently available for meetings to check on progress or discus problems we'd discovered with one of our approaches, guiding us to a new solution or telling us to move onto something else if it wasn't worth it. Considering some of us had zero experience with a problem brief they were happy to start from the fundamentals and build on our previous experiences to help us get started. Key supervisors were located in an adjacent room to ours which made it useful for frequent communication.

We were able to dictate our daily activities which was beneficial for allocating time to our projects of choice, including scheduling meetings when it was convenient for us. For our 8 weeks we were expected to work on one project, developing it into a basic prototype or early version of software depending on how successful our attempt at the project was. It would have been useful to have been pushed to complete two projects simultaneously to fill gaps/diversify what you were working on, and would have made for a more interesting final two weeks rather than working on handing off our software.

We divided responsibility amongst members of our group and rarely completed anything alone. We were occasionally tasked with giving meetings to senior management, and were given two work placement students from secondary school to manage and guide on their own personal projects.

I learned the language Python which I had minimal experience of beforehand, and have been convinced to complete my final year project. There were weekly clubs such as cyber club where we learned how to complete hack the box challenges, and I also developed my skills in presenting after having to present to the company several times throughout the internship.

There was a fairly relaxed mood throughout the interns and supervisors who helped us with our projects, and we were rarely pressed to complete something in time unless it was a target set by ourselves. There was frequent joking across tables and a friendly atmosphere quickly developed, even including some spontaneous group singing. It was very much a self-managed environment where you could work uninterrupted to get what you want done, but also somewhere where you could chat openly to discuss your problem.

It was well organised but there was little planned for us except for one or two weekly events such as talks or social events, and the presentations required to demonstrate what stage our project was at. Our day to day actions were self-managed, which was ideal because it allowed us to schedule days off much more easily.

There was little investment in the interns in general, except for a demonstration on how to talk during a meeting/ presentation and how to use git for those who were uninitiated. Despite this there was great potential to talk to experts in the field you were investigating or just interested in, and you were welcome to find them at their desk.

I would heavily consider working here again because I have enjoyed the work and general company atmosphere, and the work benefits are what I'm looking for in a future company. I could see developing strong friendships amongst other graduates and growing my set of skills considerably with the range of resources and other peoples experiences present. Having been an intern your prospects of becoming a graduate engineer are higher since they know what you are like.

Yes we developed a strong friendship within our intern group project, going for nights out weekly or for birthdays and with every intern for a final escape the room event organised by ourselves. Since most interns lived in Southampton the city was a natural meeting point for meeting up, and there were many bars and restaurants to visit and socialize at.

I was a university of Southampton students so was already renting in student accommodation, which was ~£330 per month in my shared 5 person house for my all-year round house. The cost of a seasonal ticket for my train into work was approx ~£180 for the 8 week placement. Socializing can be expensive at ordinary pubs but there is a weatherspoons near the center that is nice and cheap.

There are many bars and pubs open late in the city, and several clubs still open during the summer although they contain mostly locals as few students stay in Southampton. Most areas of the city are safe and Uber are available at all times of the day to get you home. Oceana is a popular club, but is a bit more expensive than Switch wish is not as nice but closer to the center of the city.

We were offered to join the Roke football group who play on an astro turf surface a short train ride away from Romsey by the other graduates, but there were no other events happening outside of work hours. Apart from work the city offers many activities including board game cafes, gigs at the O2 Guildhall, and premier league games at Southampton stadium.