Intern as Software Engineer Review

I knew it since the very beginning that it was a once in a lifetime opportunity, Metaswitch has a great work culture and you will find their plenty of smart people. There were always events coming in, beer every time someone joined, sports event, hackathon and other morale events. It had been a great experience, definitely recommended to anyone that is considering a career in the IT sector.

I had my internship in the Edinburgh office and the thing I appreciated the most were my colleagues. They were always supportive of my projects and they helped me when I was in need. I felt part of the team since day one and I was always included in any activity I wanted.

I spent my first couple of weeks thinking that some tasks were too hard for me, but slowly I realized that in the right work environment, with the right supervision it is possible to achieve great results even in a short amount of time such as 8 weeks and in areas where you didn't know much before, that's all thanks to my managers and supervisors which invested a lot of time putting me in the right direction.

Pretty busy most of the time, mostly because I really cared about my projects and I wanted to give something back to the company. But the workload wasn't ever unfair, the managers were always aware of my skill level and about the complexity of the projects, in the end, I managed to finish all of them in the due deadlines.

Way more than I expected at the beginning, I was involved in a project involving important data and in another, that implied being part of the development process of new products. I felt the work I have done during my internship had an actual impact on the company, that in the end, I produced something valuable.

I am currently enrolled in a Computer Science course, and I want to become a good software developer, so I would say that almost everything I learned is going to be useful in my future career, but I would say that even if your goal isn't a career in IT, those skills will be valuable anyway.

It was a great atmosphere, plenty of morale events and supportive colleagues. There was always someone playing table tennis or organizing the next event. On weekly basis, there were cake days, frisbee days and even burrito days! More importantly I always felt to be part of the team, since the very beginning.

The recruitment process, the structure, the meetings and the reviews are pretty organized, and that's a good thing, it makes those processes fair and gives you the awareness of who is in charge of what all the time. I could always rely on the admins and to my managers, since day one I had also a designated supervisor to support my training and development.

It is hard to quantify but, there were the moral events, the training time from the managers and supervisors, a couple of trip in Enfield, the support for the rent of the flat, overall I believe this company invest a lot in the recruitment process, in developing its people and in retaining its staff. I have met several manager that started as graduate and stayed in the company for more than 20 years, that surely means something.

Most of the management staff I met started as a graduate, and they still like the company after more than 20 years, that means that there are chances to grow inside the company and that potentially this can be a work for life. The starting salary is also one of the highest ones, and every set amount of time there are checkpoints to check if a pay rise is suitable.

Edinburgh is not extremely expensive, at least is way cheaper than London! During the Fringe Festival in August, it is plenty of free events, and the restaurants have fair prices. Also, the company provides for company accommodations or at least pays for part of the rent costs and that surely helps.