Intern Developer Review

The whole placement has been a thoroughly enjoyable and valuable year. From the start, a point was made of making sure I moved around to as many different projects as possible, so I could different skills from each. This also meant that there was never a dull day, and I got to work on a large amount of different industry standard skills that I would have never experienced otherwise.

Throughout the placement I have always felt valued by my colleagues. I always felt there was a sense of trust in me and my development, and as I got further into the year this increased to the point where I was actually leading some tasks, and making important decisions about the direction of some projects. From a placement I was expecting the opposite, so was pleasantly surprised by the amount I was allowed to contribute to the team.

Every one of my supervisors, from project to project have always provided me with amazing support and guidance. This has always been a combination of supporting the university side of the placement, and also making sure that I was able to be effective in the job I was actually doing for them.

From the first week when I was setting up my development environment and going to various induction meetings, learning how all of the software the company makes works and how to develop it, through to playing a critical role in delivering a customer facing product; I have never had a quite day. It hasn't been overwhelmingly busy though, just the right amount to keep me from being too bored.

The amount of responsibility I was given really depended on me. I was given the freedom to almost chose the role I played, and since I decided I wanted to make the most out of my placement I made sure that I played a significant role. In the last half of the year specifically I moved to a new office to help out, and I was able to lead some of the development stories, and be given just as much responsibility as the senior developers.

I don't think I would have gained the skills I have obtained during this placement anywhere else, definitely not at university alone. Having an insight into real world development and project management methods has set me up incredibly well for my final year, and the final year project seems a lot less work than it would have done at the start of this placement. The skills will continue to benefit me beyond university as well, as they will look really good on my CV.

I've worked in two different offices, and both have had a really good atmosphere. The Coventry office was the busiest, with lots going on, but having said that there was still a relaxed atmosphere with every one getting along great. the Huntington office was a bit quieter being the smaller of the two, but the people there are great and really welcoming. In both though everyone can't help you enough, you can ask anyone a question and if they don't know the answer they'll know someone that does.

I'd say that the whole year was pretty organised. The role its self was a very involved one, where you got hands on in all of the day to day development, which I felt has been a lot more valuable than being given an almost sand boxed exercise to work on over the year. Even though my role was an active one within the development work, I was always given time to complete the necessary bits and pieces I needed to for my university, and the monitoring of that side of things was always really organised.

The rotation around the different areas showed that they were willing to invest a lot in my growth: it would have been a lot easier to them, and make more financial sense to train me in one area and then keep me there for the whole year; but rather than do that they put a lot more time and effort in to making sure I got a taste of everything that was going on. I was always offered any resources I needed, such as books on development, and was also talked to about an Oracle certification.

There are a few different paths I can take through the company now, focusing on either pursuing development opportunities, or taking on a more management based role. For both of them, there are a large amounts of stepping stones I can take so progression could be really quick. I've been offered a graduate job with the same company, and this was always talked about from day one of the placement, so I have always felt good job security.

At the time I started there was only one other placement student working. There were also two graduate students who had been there a year or two already, and we managed to get together a few times out of the office. I've been on a couple of company trips too, which were down to celebrating a finished project; and even gone for a lunch time flight with one of my colleges who has a pilot's license.

I lived away from the office's I worked in, having put a deposit down on a house in Leicester prior to getting a placement, so didn't live in the area around Coventry. However I know from experience that the Coventry area is not too expensive and having Cov Uni there, its pretty vibrant too. As far as commuting goes as well, the head office is really easy to get to, and even the Huntington office is just off the A14.

Similarly to the comment above, I didn't live in the area I worked, but the nightlife in Coventry is really good, even more so during term time when everyone's out from the Uni.

I'd say that there are a fair amount of activities outside of work, its just a matter of getting out there and talking to everyone. Working on many different teams, I've been asked about coming along to various different sports activities, to go to different social events, and there's always the Christmas party as well.