Software Engineer Review

I had one of the best summers of my life working for BAE Systems and I'm extremely glad I applied. On my last day I was genuinely sad to leave.

My colleagues were so lovely and helpful. I made friends all across the site and still keep in regular contact with many.

My team and manager were extremely helpful. They made sure I knew what I had to do, helped when I was stuck and went out of their way to make sure I got a taste of all aspects of the work at the site. I had never worked with the software or the programming language I was using before so it was a huge learning curve made easier by those around me.

I had busier days and I had slower days. The first week or so were filled with very little (like Safety videos and paperwork) however once my main project was given to me I had a very busy couple of months ahead of me. It was littered with other tasks, meetings and assignments, however I always had my main project to go back to when I was done. My final week was a little slow however this was due to not being able to take on my tasks as I was leaving at the end of the week.

I was given a lot of responsibility. I was given my own project that I solely was in charge of and it was my responsibility to make sure it was completed as much as possible before the end of my placement. I furthermore was given the opportunity to assist on existing projects, where my input was actually useful and used for the customer.

First and foremost I learnt a lot about programming. I had very very little knowledge of this sort of thing before my internship but I am now very confident in my abilities and will happily return to it. I also learnt how to be a professional, something of which I think there is no greater asset in the working environment. I learnt that the world is not such a scary place and that I will be ok when I leave university, which is a great burden off my shoulders. Although my placement was not directly related to my degree, it didn't matter as I learnt so much that can be carried with me across a variety of mediums and careers.

Everyone in my office was extremely friendly and welcoming. They always made sure to involve me in discussions and office antics. I couldn't have asked for a better team of people to be placed with.

The placement was generally well organised locally, however in the grand scheme it lacked a little. We needed a security check in order to work there, however mine didn't come through until a couple of weeks after I'd left! It meant I lost out on a lot of meetings and trips that I would have found interesting and beneficial. It also took a little while for the closing information of the internship to be sent to us.

I was able to attend exhibitions, webinars and meetings which allowed me to grow professionally and gain a better understanding of the company and the defence industry as a whole. I also had access to the companies intranet and 24-7 books and training.

As I got graded an 'Outstanding' in my final review I could therefore reapply to the company, skip most stages apart from the final assessment centre. As I was not technically working for the company (rather through EAL and SEMTA) I doubted that they would actually be able to offer any of their summer interns a job. However, with the connections I have made and the work that I have done there I am hopeful that a graduate job would be in the cards.

Although there weren't mant interns at the site compared to others, there was a group of ex-graduates who were extremely friendly and often invited me along to whatever they had planned outside of work. I still contact them regularly and am planning a trip back down to see them over Cristmas.

Unfortunately, as it is a tourist destination during the summer months, the cost of accomodation was higher than desired. However the cost of activities and food etc was reasonable.

The nightlife was great. There were plenty of options and it was great having a few ex-graduates to show you around.

There were a couple of sporting clubs (i.e. running, football) however not many. It would have been nice to have had a few more options or to have had some more organised events, however everyone in the office was so friendly and relaxed it wasn't really necessary to have to organise things in advance.