Spring Into Technology Participant Review

In general, it was a lot better than I expected it to be given the circumstances. I gained a lot of knowledge about the company and its culture. Everyone was very friendly, both the recruiters (which were also very helpful after the scheme finished) and the speakers. The atmosphere they created during the Spring week was better than the atmosphere at some other firms I did a virtual programme for. T I especially liked that everyone was very honest and ready to help and answer all the questions. It was great to have people from the industry talk about their journey, especially the ones that just got their jobs because I could relate more to them!

This was probably one of the first events organised online since the pandemic started and because of that everything had to be organised very quickly. That's probably why, despite having amazing talks and good content during the programme, I felt like I missed out on the social aspect of the programme. I know that, if we were on-site, we would have had fun social activities (it was on the schedule). But since the event was virtual, we didn't meet each other. It was hard to feel connected and valued and not being able to interact with others other than sending in questions in the Q&A. It would've been much better if we had the chance to meet each other in smaller groups on Zoom for example.

Everyone was very helpful. The recruiters were supportive and always replied fast. It really helped that everyone was honest so I felt like I can approach them and ask whatever question I might have. There was definitely enough guidance, especially for the Software Engineering Internship from InsideSherpa (The Forage now). Literally, for every bug I had, they had an explanation and solution ready for. It seemed like everyone wanted to make sure that we can find any information we might need in case it takes more time for someone to reply which I really appreciated. Only one thing I didn't like and that was when I had a technical difficulty during the tournament and I wrote an email to them to which they didn't reply.

The skills I developed definitely helped me decide that I want to get into this area. I was very excited when I saw that we would learn more about Cyber Security, which I something I am interested in but didn't know where to start from. Even though we had various tasks to complete during the programme, I felt like that it wasn't enough and like I didn't learn that much. I'd prefer it if we had more technology-related workshops or exercises. So, this programme did give me some guidance.

In my opinion, it was very well structured. Because it was done remotely, we couldn't have had a busy schedule. I liked the post-programme events and I think it was just the right number of them. The actual technology-related part was structured so as to leave enough time for us to actually learn more and not to just complete the tasks. It was good that we had the SecureCode Warrior tournament because it gave some sort of a purpose to the exercises we did before. But I do feel like there should've been more additional tasks for participants to complete if they have the time. That's because, for someone who had a lot of free time, this was very quick to complete and left most of the Spring Week empty.

In general, the atmosphere was very friendly. Some of us (participants) connected on LinkedIn and other social media so I did gain some new acquaintances. On the other hand, the only thing that I missed in the Spring Week was that social aspect, I'd prefer if had some team building workshops or maybe if we were given a project and they teamed us up with someone. I think it would allow us to really get to know each other rather than just seeing each other's pictures in the handbook we were sent before the programme.

I think we had amazing talks, from a big variety of people which helped us get to know the firm and its culture. But on the other hand, the technology-related content, I didn't feel they've invested too much. We just completed a few tasks and that was it. I could only learn more from the employees' experiences.

It definitely helped me! The technology-related content was great and it covered different technology topics and gave a glimpse of what it is what we would be doing. The Sofware Engineering Programme by InsideSherpa (The Forage) was more helpful because it gave actual examples of where and how things we were coding would be used. Furthermore, I can't stress this enough, it was very helpful to listen to recent graduates. They explained the best what it looks like to work at JMPC and what kind of tasks you do, everything that is unfamiliar to us!

Extremely helpful. It was great to listen to people in non-technology roles because it gave me more insight into the company's culture. It was great that they presented numbers with everything they were talking about, I could see how passionate everyone is about their job. From the way everyone treated each us, how casual the talks were to the way VP's were talking to and about their employees, it was so good to see that kind of culture exists!

A part of it was very helpful, the CyberSecurity content. That is because it isn't something I'll be taught during my degree and isn't related to it but I am very interested in it. So it gave me a lot of guidance and ensured me that it is something I want to be doing in the future! I wish we had more tasks similar to that! The other part (SWE) was also very valuable because it showed what I can expect to be doing at the firm with real examples, not just random questions.

I wasn't paid or reimbursed because the experience was virtual. Our expenses would've been reimbursed if we were actually on-site.

Unfortunately not. The talks were basically them talking and then us just typing questions ( like a Q&A ) and didn't feel much as networking because there was so many us on the call, so they didn't have time to answer all the questions. The good side was that we could connect with the employees afterwards on LinkedIn, so that was the only form of networking we were given. But I think the reason why we missed it is just because they had to organise everything online unexpectedly.

There were no social events or networking opportunities at all. I did connect with some participants on Linked later because we were given a list of participants with their photos before the programme started. All the tasks were done individually and during the live talks we couldn't see who else was in the call, so we didn't have any contact with each other. We could just see how everyone was performing in the tournament. I think that was the only downside of the programme.

Yes, the employees talked about internal programmes and groups which you can join in the company, which are so diverse! I was amazed that they also had special programmes for employees that perform well in their jobs. Everyone was very passionate when they talked about their activities outside of work! They also talked to us about their hobbies and what they love to do outside work. I was great to see how versatile everyone is!

I definitely would! It's great to learn more about JPMC's culture and to gain a better understanding of what a day in the life of their employees look like. You'll have a first-hand confirmation that they care a lot about their employees and that they treat everyone the same. This Spring Week was a learning experience for everyone and given how dedicated the recruiters were to make sure everything runs smoothly and how fast did they adapt to the situation, I am confident that the next Spring Week will be even better!