Delivery Graduate Review

My summer internship was really enjoyable. I was working for Electronics Systems Group on a automated testing strategy project, so to improve the testing methods that the business currently used. I was given the project to begin with from scratch, so it was my baby. I liked the idea of having a small project that I was the owner of and it was something that could potentially help the business after I leave. I was also given a buddy along with 2 other graduates that sat behind me in the same office, so there were always there to help me and make me feel like I was a part of the organisation, even if it was a short term.

I was initially sat in a Creśe (a place where all the interns were put together), and I hated it because there was not much interaction with the team that I was working for. But within two weeks, I was moved to the actual office where development and testing team worked. Liaising with testers was easier than before and I was becoming friends with most of them. The work I was doing was appreciated by the other team members and they would give me feedback as required. The graduates and my buddy were really nice as they will come round and give me information about how the current system works. I had a workshop with each of them, so it was a great insight to the business and the system.

My manager was a busy man as he was the team lead, but when I first joined, he helped me settle down and gave me introduction of the company and the system. I was also given access straight away to most of the resources that took other interns a while, may be it was because I was there for 12 weeks but it felt good. After the first week, my manager allowed me find my way and work on the project, and helped me when I needed and asked for it. It was a great experience as I had the support if needed, but they showed faith in me to be able to handle the workload.

I was working on the project and liaising with other developers and testers on a regular basis. So it started off with few emails and conversations but eventually built up to a packed day and mailbox. This didn’t mean I was in the office until 7 o’clock but just had enough work to handle.

I was the project manager of this short term project and the responsibilities included producing scoping document, Gantt chart, booking meetings, gathering requirements and producing automated advanced techniques based on the requirements. The deliverables were signed-off by my manager and the product owner but everything else was done by myself and it was a lot of responsibility being an intern.

I have learnt new skills and advanced my current technical and interpersonal skills. Technical skills include Java, C++, Testing strategies such as SAT, FAT, System, regression Testing. In terms of interpersonal skills, I have improved my time management, dealing with multiple tasks, communication skills during this time. Although, the one that stands out and I believe is the most important is the decision making skill. As I mentioned, my manager was busy due to the nature of his role. I had to make spontaneous decisions at times and that was a challenge for me. I made mistakes but I learnt from them and improved myself. Being an intern, making wrong decisions didn’t have a major impact on the organisation and this experience will certainly be helpful for me in the future role that I do.

It was very friendly. Everyone was genuinely nice and willing to help. Having graduates in the room didn't make me miss uni.

It was really good, I believe they hire about 15 interns every summer within Electronics Systems Group and hence they have a well structured process for interns. There is a team that looks after both the graduates and the interns.

As I was a 12 weeks intern, I didn't really require a lot of training. But I had an induction at the beginning, which was at Holiday Inn so that was nice. I also do know that they invest in the placement students a lot.

I have been talking to my manager and he thinks I fit well in the team so who knows I will potentially have a career here.

Yes. Like I mentioned we had 15 interns, so it was a good community, even better when the grads joined in. We used to go out after work sometimes.

I never had to move out, but I believe it was expensive. It costed other interns £900 per month, bills included.

We had a few pubs in town, and we used to hang out there.

Not many actually. There wasn't much apart from scheduling night outs and social gathering.