Content Scientist Review

A really, really great internship. I worked as a Content Scientist, which included responsibilities like designing an iPad app, trialing the ideas, and analyzing the results. The work was interesting, flexible and the atmosphere is fantastic. The whole staff are incredibly friendly, and the sense of company community is noticeable from the moment you come in the door.

One of the best things about the internship is how you are treated by the rest of the company. The application process is fairly stringent, but the moment you come in the door you're treated as a part of the company. You are never 'just an intern' and existing members of the company will discuss and ask for your help on projects and tasks from your very first day.

I worked as a part of a team with two members of the company and two other interns. The two company members were always there for support, and were committed to helping wherever they could. One of the best things about it was that as interns we were trying new things that hadn't been attempted by the company before, so supervisors would support as much as possible, but because we were trying new things, it was down to us to try stuff out and see what worked!

You were always kept busy. When you were in the office you worked hard, concentrated and the pace of development is rapid. To be honest, I think this is one of the most exciting things about working at a startup! Even though it was intense when you were in the office, it was all interesting work and hours rarely spilt over into your own time.

Me and two other interns were given our own separate project to work on during our time at Sparx. This consisted of designing, prototyping and evaluating a new game for the iPads, and was entirely our responsibility as a team. Within our time there we were given a month to design and create the game, and then a month to try it out with students and gauge reactions. Having your own project for which you were totally responsible, and that other members of the company relied on you to both complete and integrate with the rest of the work being done within Sparx was really rewarding. Even after we left, what we had made was taken and developed into a full application!

For me, this was great because I learnt a lot about things that hadn't come up at uni. I got experience in Python, Agile development, Scrum, Sprints and what it's like to work in a tech environment. If you're from a more CS background it will give you the opportunity to really put into action some of the things you'll have covered.

The atmosphere is great, very relaxed and informal, everyone is happy to help if you're struggling and a very flat hierarchy. There's no sense of competition or ego, which is great. No dress code (apart from the company t-shirt on the rare occasion). The owner often brought his dog in which was good as well, although if you weren't a dog person he would leave you alone!

The mixture between working independently and collaborating with others was well laid out, and they made sure to constantly be giving feedback and having progress meetings. You met and talked about the project whenever necessary with your supervisors. There were daily scrums, biweekly sprints, fortnightly feedback sessions and one email of formal, written feedback telling you what you'd done well/ could improve on over the internship.

As the firm is rapidly moving/ growing, training was very hands on and you were expected to learn on the job. Personally I really like this, especially as they were happy to give you support and a little bit of time to teach yourself new things. You developed a lot as you were always trying new things and being pushed in the direction of new challenges.

If you're looking for a job that will push you, where you will always have to learn new things, and you will have to get involved in all aspects of a tech company then this is great. You'll be pushed to adapt, and have to get your hands dirty in some of the less 'glamorous' jobs, but that's half of the fun of being part of a startup. You're always contributing in a big way to a great project.

We did loads of stuff together, the company took us out for meals, canoeing down the river, we went biking on Dartmoor, power kiting, cocktail making, we watched the superbowl and got pizza, went out for drinks. For a small company there was a lot going on socially and everyone's very nice/ cool to hang out with.

A lot of the time this was covered by the company. They paid for a lot of the social events, and all of our accommodation was covered, so you only ever paid for a couple of things, which were never much. Overall Exeter is really cheap, so it's not really something you'll ever have to worry about, especially when you're getting paid.

There's not a lot of big nightclubs, but music acts tend to come reasonably frequently (Ben Howard's from the area). There's some good pubs to go out to, and you can hang out in the flat as well.

We did a lot of things with work, the company took us out for meals, canoeing down the river, we went biking on Dartmoor, power kiting, cocktail making, we watched the superbowl and got pizza, went out for drinks. For a small company there was a lot going on socially and everyone's very nice/ cool to hang out with.