Assistant Developer Review

The experience I received working at ProspectSoft Ltd as an Assistant Developer for a period of 13 months is priceless to me. Every opportunity I have been given, every task I’ve taken on and every relationship I’ve built has contributed significantly to the progress of my personal growth. Being in an environment like this, my confidence and my spoken English improved.

Ever since I started, I have been treated like a valuable employee, and I’ve consistently been supported, mentored and encouraged by my team, consisting of experienced and professional developers. They were friendly and willing to help even when they were in the middle of something. My work was reviewed by others and based on their feedback I was learning and improving my code on a daily basis.

ProspectSoft put so much time into the placement programme, that right from the very start, I was supported by Directors and Managers in a comfortable, positive and supportive working environment and they helped me to identify areas that I could improve on. One of the biggest highlights that I aim to take out of this experience is the opportunity I had to present and demo the new features that the development department had been working on in the recent sprint. Presenting to the whole company on the last five ‘Pizza Friday’ sessions, I was able to work directly alongside ProspectSoft’s Development Director and discuss with him in a closer way. This was a great challenge and opportunity which helped me finesses my presentation skills.

In my department, you could get stuck on loads of things. Working in an agile environment there is always something to do, thus you would not have time to be bored at any time.

At ProspectSoft I have been trusted to perform highly skilled tasks and operations and I think there isn’t a better way to learn. I will never forget the proud and ecstatic feeling I had after my first month of developing when the first feature I developed positively impacted the Customer Services Team.

I’ve been introduced to new technologies that I have never touched before such as .NET framework for backend services/APIs and web technologies such as HTML, CSS, JavaScript as well as Vue.js and TypeScript for the client-side. This is when I felt that all that I have learned in the first two years of university can be applied in real-life projects because although I did not know some of the technologies and languages that ProspectSoft use, I successfully learned them in a short period of time. This placement year will make a huge impact on my final year project, and following the agile methodologies that I’ve practiced throughout the year will help keep track of my progress.

Amazing! There was no day without a laugh or coffee from at least a member of my team. The atmosphere at ProspectSoft is so friendly and everyone in my department has been extremely welcoming! It is made up of incredible people that have played a significant role in thrusting me forward in my career and my personal development.

The first month of my placement was dedicated to training and shadowing. In my training sessions, I was shown all areas of the business by senior members of the company which gave me instant opportunities to learn from people with real experience in the industry. After the training period, I was prepared to carry out my role having a good understanding of the business.

My Development Director has been trying to accommodate my desires and I had the opportunity to give demos and presentations to people which made significant progress on my personal growth. I have also been given the occasion to attend the biggest JavaScript for Finance Conference in London. It was a great evening which showcased innovations by web technologies and the various applications of JavaScript in financial SaaS products! Listening and learning about the latest FinJS advances from leaders across the finance industry, was a really great experience.

Most of the developers were once placements at this company and the company is constantly growing.

Yes, I lived with other 5 placements and we have been on a few nights out together or in town for either shopping or a pub. Everyone at ProspectSoft is sociable, and you can get involved in curry nights and a few social events that take place throughout the year.

I lived in Oxford which was fairly pricey for a placement.

Lots of student bars and clubs in Oxford which makes the social scene really good.

Oxford is a student area and there are lots of things going on. Living with other placements makes such a big difference as you can join any activities with them. And if you have an idea regarding a social event or activity, you can freely put the idea out there and get people from the company involved.