Verification Review

Overall the placement was enjoyable. Suitable tasks were given which were not essential for the company, but still useful for the team so the amount of responsibility given based on my experience was perfect. The work environment was friendly and relaxed.

The colleagues with whom I worked with were very helpful and they seemed to value my work and needs. Other colleagues in my office were relaxed and friendly and would not hesitate to strike conversation.

I would meet my manager at least once a week and he would ensure i had enough work, and that the work was suitable and interesting. He would explain what is required of me and answer nay questions i had. i also had a technical manager who i would see a few times per day whensoever i needed technical help.

For the first few weeks i was bored because I was getting familiar with the tools and work environment. during the middle, The work load was average and i had work to do for most of the time. towards the end, the work was a bit busy since i was moving between groups and tasks which meant at some point I was working on 2 projects at once.

The responsibility was adequate. the work i did was not essential for the company, but it provided useful information for my team which could possibly improve efficiency in the future. I think based on my knowledge and experience the levels of responsibility were very good.

I mostly developed general programming skills which should be useful in university and future work. I also learnt more about the specific tools at ARM which should be useful for any future placement at ARM. I did not receive any specific training, but had adequate materials provided for me to learn in my own time, for example course notes on System Verilog and Python were provided.

The atmosphere was friendly and enjoyable. People would usually be talking about either work, or job unrelated topics. Occasionally colleagues would bring cake or other foods to share with their colleagues, usually after returning from holiday, or after losing a bet. This made the atmosphere more enjoyable and possibly more productive since everyone was relaxed and not stressed.

The placement was very organised. there were 80+ interns during summer and most had useful work to do. I was placed in a office with people on my team and I had no major IT issues during the placement. The work dates were flexible and holidays and unpaid leave for training were efficiently and quickly organised. Many after work social events were organised, for example barbecues or pub quizzes.

I had no formal training. I had help from colleagues whenever needed, but it would probably be easier for me to have had some basic training before starting work. However the company did sponsor me to attend the UKESF summer workshop which contributes to some personal development. I was also provided with reading material whenever needed which was useful.

Future employment prospects are reasonably appealing due to reasonable salaries and interesting work. The graduate rotation scheme seems interesting since it allows extrapolation of different aspects of the company, and allows you to specialize in what you are best at and or enjoy the most.

The social life was not bad. Many work events were organised and were free for employees. Having many interns on site also helped and there were many student organised events. the company helped this by providing means of communication, for example Skype groups and email aliases for all interns.

I was based in Cambridge. the living costs were reasonable and some Cambridge colleges even offer temporary accommodation. the company also arranged some accommodation with a Cambridge college for summer interns. The cost of socializing was also reasonable.

Yes there were many opportunities. for example many cycling based events were available such as races.