Placement Student Review

My placement at Sony Europe Ltd. gave me the opportunity to work across a multitude of projects, gaining lots of skills along the way, particularly in programming and writing documentation. The range of projects I was exposed to made the placement enjoyable, exciting, and more importantly, rewarding.

Every project I worked on had importance to Sony Europe Ltd.; all interns were always part of an active project. Because of this, I worked closely with colegaues in project teams and formed good working relationships; I definitely felt valued. Sometimes, project meetings would take place without students and so it was easy to become isolated from the overall direction of projects and their members, however, this was mainly due to the fact that Sony Europe Ltd. placed emphasis on enhancing student's skills and gaining programming experience.

Despite everyone being busy with more important work, every single person in the department could be called upon to at least provide some support when required, All of my managers were helpful and respectful; their experience was invaluable. There were some very skilled and versatile programmers who were kind and didn't mind providing assitance when required.

In some regards, the balance was down to the students, in that you had project goals to achieve over a set time frame, and it was down to you to ensure you achieved them. Of course managers would see how you were doing, but they trusted us to get on with the job and deliver as much as one could. Personally, I liked this style as on weeks where I was not quite so sharp and was struggling, I could back off and re-think things without fear of repurcussions.

The projects I worked on were active and important, but the contributions I made were never completely essential; this is inevitable and not the fault of Sony Europe Ltd. because our skills are far less than that of the engineers in the department and they didn't want to put us under too much pressure. Nonetheless, they did place importance on our work being a success, and my work was genuinely used in important projects.

I believe I have gained a lot of useful skills, particularly in programming. I programmed across a range of languages: C++, JavaScript, TypeScript, HTML, and CSS to name a few. I used a lots of exciting frameworks and environments such as Node.js, Angular 4, and the MEAN stackl; I used both Linux and Windows in my development work. Sony Europe Ltd. invited us to four placement student events across the year; these enabled us to find out about the structure, history, and direction of Sony, as well as to develop our soft skills such as teamwork, communication, presentation delivering, and more. On my return to university, I will be able to apply my problem-solving and programming skills to lots of modules, and my experience of working on projects will surely assist me in doing final year projects and adapting easily to life after graduation.

The office was quiet and focused; one could tell that important work went on here. One could talk to colleagues whenever they wanted — I often shared good humour with team members — but this was not a common occurrence and is in many ways the nature of a software/hardware development environment.

The placement involved working sequentially on four projects, each lasting around four months. In each project, there were certain goals to achieve, for example, creating a web app to act as a general user interface for an emulator. At the end of each project, every student would present their work and take questions from the experienced colleagues around us. Sometimes our transition to the next project was slower than expected and not well organised, however this was caused by larger events occurring that pre-occupied management, and was totally understandable.

For every project I worked on, the team always helped me to get up to speed with the required software. Despite my work not being as important as most, my managers and colleagues still spent time with me and ensured I kept my focus and direction. I was invited to go on departmental business trips to learn more about the company and network with other Sony Europe Ltd. employees.

There are engineers I have worked with in the department who have spent their placement year here and returned after graduating. However, it is not really discussed during the year. Subject to there being positions available and doing a good job, I believe there is the opportunity to return as a graduate engineer.

At the Basingstoke office where I worked, there were many placement students working across most departments. We all spent lunchtimes together, met up after work once a week, and sometimes went out at weekends. Occasionally, some of us in the department would go out for drinks and food at lunch or on a Friday afternoon.

Basingstoke, being in Hampshire, certainly isn't cheap. Unfortunately, as the town does not have a university or many colleges in it, there aren't many things to do in the town itself, apart from going shopping, seeing a film, or going to the leisure centre. Rent was a lot, though I was used to it; people not from London and the South East may find it displeasing, though the money you earn will cover it. If you have a car, you can easily drive to Southampton, Guildford, and London: all far better places in my opinion.

There are two main clubs in Basingstoke; one of them requires you to be 21 or over, both are average at best. There are lots of good restaurants in the town centre and a couple of nice parks nearby if taking a late stroll is your thing. There are a couple of well-priced and large pubs in the top of town too.

Basingstoke has a great leisure centre and gym, with plenty of activities and clubs running daily. There are sports clubs dotted around the town too. It lacks more student-oriented events like festivals but there is a theatre, the Anvil, which holds productions and one could look to get involved there.