Assistant Developer Review

I enjoyed it greatly, I’ve learned so much in the last 13 months – I’m a completely different programmer than I was last year, and I’ve become so much more confident both in terms of my technical ability and my social skills.

From day one I felt like part of the team, and I always felt my contributions to the company mattered. My input was fairly considered whenever I gave it, and all of my colleagues (regardless of whether they were in my department or not) helped me feel much more comfortable at work than I ever thought I would be.

I’ve had amazing mentors over the course of the year, I never felt like I was left alone with a task I didn’t understand. They were completely understanding of any lack of experience that I had when I started, and helped me learn at my own pace. Regardless of who I asked, I always received a helpful response or was pointed in the direction of someone who would know what I needed. This guidance helped me become better at my craft than I thought was possible in a year.

I was always kept comfortably busy – There was never an idle moment but I never felt like I was being loaded with too many tasks to complete on time.

I was given a lot of responsibility during the year, varying from making changes to core product experiences to automating in-house processes. I never felt like I was out of my depth though – thanks to my excellent mentors and well described tasks, I always felt like it was achievable.

The training I’ve received this year has not only made me a better developer but also laid the groundwork for further improvement. The knowledge I’ve gained here will definitely prove vital when I enter the workplace, and has helped me feel so much more confident about my value to a prospective employer. Alongside this, I’ve gained much social experience while I’ve been here, something which I felt I was lacking in when I originally came here.

We had had an open plan office which encouraged a friendly but not overly noisy or distracting work environment. This lead to me interacting with more people than I thought I would, which contributed to my personal growth greatly.

The year was overall very organised. I worked on a variety of different things but my workload never felt chaotic – I was never assigned to things last minute and I never felt rushed, resulting in a consistent and manageable flow of work which I became adjusted to.

The training I received while at ProspectSoft was very valuable to me – I was given a choice as to which areas I wished to improve on, and my tasks were tailored to suit that. The things I’ve learned here will prove useful for years to come, both in terms of my career and for my own personal interests. I even got the opportunity to attend the FinJS conference in London, which was a very insightful experience.

Very appealing - I’ve gotten to know my colleagues so well and I feel very comfortable working here, and I know that I will be challenged but not overwhelmed by the workloads I’m given, as well as being given a chance to pick up exciting new things to learn along the way.

There were numerous company events across the year which I enjoyed, including a visit to Henley Regatta, as well as some placement nights out.

I lived in Oxford, which was a nice city but very expensive to live in.

My department arranged several events outside of work, included a visit to a trampoline park. We also had a dedicated social committee who you raise suggestions with.