Career Discovery Programme Review

So the programme lasted for two days and it was mostly networking with other students, listening to seminars/presentations and coding workshops. Not all of the presentations were focused on technical aspects of the industry but ones about self-actualisation and professional confidence. During the coding workshops, there were graduate software developers already working at Expedia walking around to assist you in case you were stuck on anything but I felt that most people were unwilling to ask for help.

I developed my coding skills a little and networking skills as the cohort consisted of students from all kinds of universities from around the UK. Some professional skills were developed during the CV-helping session where they taught you about how to enhance your CV, such as including a cover letter and enhancing the general layout. The coding skills were taught through Hackerrank which I definitely need more improvement on. I think it emphasised how important coding is for Expedia.

It was easy to understand about all the business and potential roles available, such as software engineering and product management. However they did not explain too much about data science and machine learning. We were assigned groups to rotate around various graduates and ask them questions first-hand about how they transitioned from internship into a graduate offer etc. It was very interesting to meet different kinds of people and learn about their journey joining Expedia Group.

The company culture seemed relaxed, typical of an American tech company perhaps. The general atmosphere was liberal. They introduced us to various diversity and inclusion societies and events they offer monthly at the company which emphasised a sense of equality. There also seemed to be no strict dress code, as perhaps most of the headcount is made up of software engineers who work backend rather than client-facing roles. There were free snacks and drinks everywhere but no canteen.

I enjoyed the insight a lot because I felt very valued and taken care of even as just a first-year undergraduate student. There were plenty of opportunities to network with students from other backgrounds and not everyone studied computer science, for example I think there were two who did biomedical engineering. The lunch offered was delicious and plenty. However I did feel that the time scheduling was a bit tight and could've been more spread out.

Yes

I would say to brush up on coding knowledge and show a willingness to learn. The recruitment there seems to be all about diversity and giving willing students a chance so you don't have to worry about having the wrong pedigree or connections etc. and also just for any role in general maybe having a side project to show independent work ethic would help, though I'm not sure how this would work for product management.