Software Engineer Review

The internship was very enjoyable overall. I learned a lot because my mentor was sitting next to me all day, ready to help. The work I worked on was part of the actual project, so I feel like I contributed to something useful. The team and my mentor understood I was new to software engineering, but still challenged me.

My colleagues all knew a lot more than I do about computer science, but they were never mean about this and always happy to take some time to answer any questions or review my code. It was a nice environment to work in.

My manager was sitting right next to me, and we were working on the same project. This meant that whenever I had any doubt or questions, he would know exactly what I was working on and could help me without reading through all the code first. My manager was very helpful and took all the time we needed to explain things to me.

I had stuff to work on every day, but I never felled stressed because of a too tight schedule. I was given one project to finish in my 8 week internship, broken down into smaller milestones. If I couldn't finish a milestone in one week, there was some slack to finish it the week after. I finished my 8-week project 2 days before I was leaving.

The code I was given is actually part of the product Metaswitch is delivering. Of course it would be stupid if they took my code and send it to the costumer, so two people reviewed all the bits of code I committed to the project and gave me feedback to improve my code.

Coming from a psychology degree, I had no idea how to code before coming to Metaswitch. I was given the time to learn the basics before starting on my project and during the project my mentor explained everything that was unclear to me. I have learned so much over the past eight weeks! These skills will be useful for the rest of my life.

Everybody is friendly.

The internship was very well organised. I got an email with all relevant details two weeks before my arrival and my first day started with a general intern induction. Then my mentor showed me around and explained the project I was going to be working on. He explained my learning path and working path to me. There was never a moment where it was unclear what I was supposed to be doing.

There were multiple intern sessions on the basics of computer science, machine learning, and related tech fields. There was a three-day hackathon were I could apply all the skills I learned over the previous eight weeks. The company allowed me take the full first week to learn the basics of python and programming.

My mentor reviewed my learning process and I will have a final review session tomorrow.

There are over 40 interns at Metaswitch at the moment and the social scene is great. There are welcome/leaving drinks every week and the interns come together to play some games, watch Game of Thrones, or have lunch in the park.

Metaswitch has a company house which is subsidised, so staying here is very affordable.

I prefer to sleep at night.

Metaswitch has a lot of clubs and societies that meet up at lunchtime or after work. I have played football, basketball, volleyball, ultimate Frisbee, touch rugby, tennis and squash during lunchtimes. After work there is the boardgames club, self defence classes, and probably more.