Developer IP Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement here at Cognito iQ. The fact that there were 6 other placement students in the same boat as you helped tremendously. You do not feel like an IP here as you are contributing to real project work just like everyone else in your team.

I was in a small tight knit team so knew my colleagues quite well.I talked to them very regularly regarding work and non work topics. I felt quite valued by them and could go to them quite easily about any issues or questions I had about anything without feeling awkward.

I felt I received enough guidance and support from management. They were very friendly to talk to and open to any questions you might have. Over time, you needed very little support as you have learnt enough to work pretty much without any guidance as you have built up a solid foundation of knowledge.

This depended on a day to day basis. Certain days I could be incredibly busy, and others, I could have very little sprint work but the good thing is that we had innovation time so we could develop our own project work during this time.There could also be period where we would be blocked by things out of our control.

I made critical changes to important project work and almost had the same responsibility as some more senior developers short of being on call during production deployments. I was also my team's scrum master for a few sprints which was a real eye opener to me and hugely beneficial. I do not think I would have got this amount of responsibility any where else.

I have learnt far more in this placement than I have in my degree so far and the certifications and experience gained whilst at this placement will definitely help my future career after university. I was involved in real project work with real life agile methodologies so this has set me up perfectly for a grad job.

There was a very relaxed and enjoyable atmosphere here at Cognito iQ.

The placement scheme is very good here.

I am incredibly happy about the training received here. In my time here, I have earned 2 Amazon Web Services certifications, which the company have paid for both the exam and the course required to learn the material needed for the exam. Also, we were allocated time at work to study for this and study leave to take the exam.

I am seriously considering coming back to Cognito iQ after I finish my university degree.

I got on very well with most of the other placement students and we socialised very often. We would often see each other 2 to 3 times a week after work or on weekends. We also spent lunch together most of the days in the break room or in the pub.

The cost of housing in this area is quite expensive especially compared to student housing. However, the other living costs in this area are very affordable. Socialising would not cost much at all in this area but the options are quite limited but by no means would we struggle to afford the living costs.

In Newbury town, there are quite a few pubs and some open till extremely late and also one night club. The range of nightlife is severely limited however especially coming from a student background, you might be in for a bit of a shock! You won't be short on pubs around here though.

There is not that much to do around here but company socials were quite frequently organised.