Software Developer Review

This was extremely enjoyable. I was given a challenging problem to solve but with the support of my team and mentor I have been able to develop a series of tools to solve the problem. Throughout the process I have learnt about all the key stages of development, improved my communication skills and have come a long way towards becoming the professional I want to be.

All my colleagues expressed a genuine interest in my project and I can tell that the results that my tools have produced could have a genuine impact on the performance of some of the company's products. My team in particular have been very friendly and helpful, whilst my mentor has provided support throughout and helped me improve each week after having weekly review meetings. These meetings are used as a chance to look back on the last week, identify the good and the bad, and start to look ahead. Identifying the next steps to take and also some personal development goals.

I maintained close contact with my mentor throughout the process, ensuring he was kept up to date on my current progress. At the same time, I was given a great amount of autonomy and independence allowing me to take ownership of the project and tackle the problem my way. Of course, my mentor was also able to help suggest potential solutions or alternative methods which helped keep progress smooth and keep me open minded to other solutions.

I always had plenty of work to do. As mentioned above, throughout my time here I have been involved in every stage of development, from initial research and solution design, development of the solution, testing the solution and then getting the code reviewed. There were also a series of educational talks which covered the wider issues of software development and exposed me to some other ideas. One particularly interesting talk being about the end-to-end delivery process that larger companies go through and all the various roles and activities involved.

Due to my level of experience, I was given quite a significant project which was left to me to solve. My mentor was always there to support, but we were both tackling this problem for the first time and learning about the challenges involved together. Therefore, I actually became more of an expert in the particular problem area than my mentor and felt as though I was able to drive the process of developing a solution. I was given a great deal of autonomy and gained the experience of working independently but reporting to a line manager regularly. This involved producing estimates for a task before beginning, determining my own deadlines which I was then held to. Once again, this is a valuable skill to develop and something you only gain from industry experience.

The experience has been invaluable. It has provided the opportunity to apply a significant amount of my computing knowledge, whilst developing a variety of professional skills crucial to becoming a good software developer. Overall, a great experience.

The office culture definitely encourages collaboration and openness. Everyone is always willing to help and the free fruit, coffee and tea provides a welcome refreshment. Small talks are also a regular occurrence in the office. That is, every week or so a colleague or intern gives a short talk/demo of what they've been working on, a particular area of interest or a discussion on a suggestion for a potential future practice to adopt (ie. Unit testing).

The internship has been very well organised. I have been able to get to know my team well, through a combination of welcome drinks, being involved in daily scrum meetings and the occasional pub lunch. During the middle of my internship we had a 3 day Vacathon, which was essentially an extended hackathon with plenty of food and drink provided, and prizes for the best hacks. This was extremely enjoyable, as both a break from work and also as an introduction to hackathons.

There were regular education talks ranging on topics around the business as whole and the products the company produced to general software development skills talks. The hackathon also provided the opportunity to try and integrate some of the latest tech with some of Metaswitch's existing products. My mentor was assigned a portion of time to support me, and even took the time to explain some of Metaswitch's products to me in greater depth, giving me an insight into the codebase and components involved in the products.

Metaswitch has products in a wide range of contexts, providing lots of different and exciting challenges. It is also clear that the company provides the opportunity to progress and grow within the firm, but to also experience different roles and responsibilities surrounding software development.

Welcome drinks within the first day ensure you immediately get to know the rest of your team, and the other interns that start on the same day as you. The interns had their own mailing list which we were encouraged to use to organise events and meet-ups, and even when we didn't go out we'd regularly meet at lunch in the company canteen. The canteen is great value and serves some great food. The vacathon also provided the ideal opportunity to get to know the other interns and work together on a project of our choosing. This was great fun and a real sense of camaraderie emerged, especially as interns from all the different offices came together for the few days.

The cost of living was generally good, especially considering the proximity to London. The subsidized company housing was great value and saved a lot of hassle in finding somewhere to stay for the duration of the internship. It was also located close to the office and was well kept.

I didn't really get a chance to explore this. But often all us interns would just meet up and chill, either at a pub or at a company house.

There are a variety of lunchtime clubs which are available to join. These can easily be found on the company intranet.