Software Engineer Intern Review

The internship at Capital One was an amazing experience. I really got a full insight into life in a financial tech company and how the Software Engineer role works outside of university. As interns we were regularly treated to events and meet ups so that we could connect with others and get to know each other. As a result I know I have made friends for life despite just being at Capital One over the summer.

I felt extremely valued. In fact, I didn't feel like an Intern at all and instead a full time employee, I was treated as equally as anyone and it felt like I fit into my team straight away. They included me in everything right from day one. If I ever had an issue they made sure I knew exactly who to turn to and they would resolve anything asap.

I was given a mentor, a buddy and a manger. All of mine were amazing and happy to answer any questions and issues I had both within regular meetings and out. My mentor saw me pretty much daily and was always available by message. Whilst I was completing the tech internship, I had an interest in the business side of things too and my manger really helped me to make contacts and set up meetings for something that realistically wasn't what I signed up for in the internship job description but instead allowed me to explore other areas I wanted to get the most out of the experience.

We always had something to do, that's not to say that I felt pressured though. It is a really friendly work atmosphere and there aren't any unrealistic time constraints on projects. With regular meetings and sessions I found that my day went really quickly as I was always moving around changing setting rather than just being set at my desk the whole day

Alongside other interns, I was given the opportunity to produce our own project from start to finish allowing us to customise and adjust it as we thought best. We were put into groups but then had to manage everything between us. We had to sort meetings, we had to communicate across both teams and locations. Both of these responsibilities were vital for producing the project on time and taught very valuable skills

The majority of work I completed over the summer was on tasks I had never even heard of before starting and never touched at university. That said we were even amazing training and assistance which means that I have left the internship with so much more knowledge than I could ever have imagined - maybe even more than the first 2 years of university.

There is such a friendly atmosphere its amazing. Day to day the office is always full of smiles and to add to that Capital one even allowed us as Interns to attend the yearly update event and celebration as well as multiple fundays out of the office bringing everyone together. I have never been treated so well :)

Whilst I didn't take advantage of this, just in the 10 weeks we were there we were offered Amazon Web Services Certification free of charge amongst many more options. If I were there longer I would undoubtedly taken this on - it really is an amazing opportunity to be given.

Capital one really respects its interns and if you do a good job they can end up providing you with a Graduate position for when you have left university. In terms of progression, right at the very beginning I think on the 2nd day we were shown the routes careers can take at the business and its clear they really care about growing their employees from the start and giving them the chance to rise up through the company.

The interns and graduates all became great friends during the 10 weeks and we all sat together at lunch and just chatted about not only what we were doing within our teams but also just general life as well. Theres even the games room which we would often use to battle each other on Table Tennis or Table Football. Outside of work we often met up too for drinks or food.

There were plenty of options to get involved outside of work hours. There was a specific event held for interns and graduates to climb the peaks in order to raise money for charity. Otherwise as I already mentioned we were all invited to the annual company festival to celebrate and just have a great time