Summer Student Review

I was able to work independently, as well as in a small team at times. I was given guidance on what to be working on and how to complete it, but otherwise left to my own devices to work out how to solve the problems faced (this is a good thing).

Having worked here before, many around the firm and particularly my department now know me by name, so I don't feel out of place, not that this was ever the case when I first worked here.

When required, my manager was more often than not available and thus was able to give me any guidance I required. We can discuss together how to solve problems and he would let me go away and try to come up with implementations of those solutions. I feel we had a good balance in that respect

At times I have felt that I needed to be doing more things, although I think this could be because I was able to finish tasks that my manager had set me earlier than he expected.

As said, I was able to basically get on with a task on my own. I was given responsibility in that I was working on live systems in use by employees of the company (with every potential that things could get broken)

The skills I have developed are unlikely to assist academically in my degree studies as they bear little resemblance to the content of my course. However, knowledge in some of the programming I have been doing will surely be useful at some point in the future. In addition to this, the experience of working in a professional environment and the knowledge of how some things work at an enterprise level will undoubtedly be useful in my future career.

There was a clear direction in what I was going to be doing for the duration of my placement. This was good as I wasn't flicking between completely different projects, allowing me to focus my attention on one particular area and thus build my ability here throughout the time.

There was no formal training, but in a way it wasn't required, and I like the way I am able to go away and research things for myself so that I may apply that knowledge in my work. Help was available if I needed it, but often I found myself finding out things for myself.

I could come to work here full-time in the future, but I don't feel this is the career path I want to take. This doesn't mean I didn't enjoy the placement or find it unfulfilling, but that I feel in the future, I will be moving towards the area of my degree course.

The other students did some activities together

I already lived in the area, but living costs in general are high for the country (some of the highest out of London). Fuel prices are high, and the public transport is average. There are plenty of places to socialise however, and the city itself is quite pleasant.

Again, there are plenty of places to go out and drink to your hearts content. There are three main nightclubs along with a few smaller places. There aren't amazing by any stretch, but the crowd is usually young and friendly with reasonable drinks prices. There are absolutely tons of pubs and bars though.

The company has many sporting and social events (the Summer BBQ for instance). I personally played 5-a-side football every week with some of my colleagues.