Intern Review

Very much so - I'll be back if I can be!

Metaswitch is like a big family! The community is great, there's no sense of self-centered career ladder climbing, there were multiple activities I could get involved in for fun (and meet new people at), and work-wise the office I was in had a very relaxed/friendly atmosphere.

I had a manager and a mentor - a manger who I reported to and who was in charge of what project I was doing and shape my training overall, and a mentor who would help me whenever I had trouble with specific issues within a project.

As busy as I wanted to be! Work-wise, when I was working, I was working non-stop, but Metaswitch operate on a flexi-hour system, meaning that as long as you get enough hours done each week, it doesn't hugely matter when you do them. Most days I got to the office at 9.15, had a 1.5hour lunch break taking part in activities, and left around 6.15, but some days I would leave early, and occasionally I would work till 7.30.

As I was the only intern in my business unit (there were quite a few units!), I was working by myself a lot of the time. Either my mentor or my manager would set me a task, and then leave me to do it - of course, I'd be reporting back fairly regularly when I had problems that I couldn't solve myself, and they chose what I'd be doing, but on the whole I was in charge of it.

Technically, I've come on by leaps and bounds - had you told me what I was going to be doing by the end, I wouldn't have believed it possible in such short time, but it's been amazing learning and developing my technical skills. As for other skills, one of the main things that Metaswitch focus on for interns is building life-skills/transferable skills - during my first meeting with my manager, he outlined what skills he wanted me to learn/hoped to teach me over my time here, and (I think!) I have - it's also outlined some of my areas which I need to improve in, which is very useful to know!

It was very easy to work in, partly because everyone was working around you, but also because it was very friendly - I never felt as if I couldn't ask my mentor or someone else in my team for help, as it always felt like we were working as a community together. Oh, and there was chocolate passed around every day! :)

Very much so - housing had been sorted out months beforehand, I had a letter from my manager about what projects I'd be working on when I arrived and a bit of detail about them, upon arrival there was an induction to the company (including various things in the local area to be aware of, such as shops/medical/gyms/stations)... It was great!

One of Metaswitch's main aims for interns is to train them in soft/transferable/life skills, and I had weekly meetings with my manager to discuss various things about the project I was working on, but also more general feedback about the way I worked/communicated, and what could do with working on, and where/how I might start doing so.

If you're going into your final year of uni, and over your time working at Metaswitch you manager thinks that you've got what is needed to work here, then with your agreement you'll be put forward for a second round of interviews - only about half of the interns get this. If you pass these, then they offer you a job with them for when you finish! I was offered the second interview, and only just fell short on the tests - the feedback from them was very useful though!

The interns met for lunch almost every day, and we went out for a pub or restaurant lunch once a week. We also had various events over the summer at each of the houses - a pancake evening, a cocktail party, the list goes on!

Very cheap - Metaswitch provide company accomodation for £9/night (including bills and a cleaner once a week), which is very cheap for anywhere - especially considering I was based in London! Enfield is on the edge of the Oyster-card zone, so getting into and out of London could be quite expensive, especially if you travel during peak times at all. If you do need to get to town, then I'd strongly advise just buying a days travelcard whilst you're there, or linking your Oyster card to your 16-25 railcard. If you don't have one of those, then get one! :)

I've been out late with various activities (some nights I wouldn't get home till past midnight), but I haven't been out clubbing once whilst I've been here - Enfield is a quiet area, which I've enjoyed (walking at night and being able to hear the night is great!), and if you want nightlife, then just head into London central - there's all you could want there!

So many! I got involved in Bridge, Magic: The Gathering, the Christian Union, the board game society, but there were many more activities (including lots of sports ones) which happened.