Software Engineer Review

Placement starts you off with a bit of training and getting to know your skills. Before that you are properly introduced to the business and to your role, along with a tour of your workplace and the site. Once they determine your skill level you are immediately put on to work on a project. Once you learn more about how things are done and show potential they might intrust you with your own project giving you full responsibility providing the full time job experience expected.

Immediately upon arrival you are introduced to your colleagues and welcomed warmly. I was never treated as the stereotypical intern and never have I been undermined. I was treated as a full time employee no different than anybody else. My ideas and suggestions as well as the job I was doing was taken seriously and it was appreciated.

You get a log book and a training booklet to go through as you progress your placement. You get a mentor that is assigned to assist you with your project and future training and suggest courses or train you him/herself. Tata has internal courses you can go to and some if not most of them are recommended or mandatory.

As in any company there were days where there was little to do, but once you get started on a project there isn't a day in which I would have free time. Having said that, work wasn't overwhelming it was enough to keep me occupied and for me to feel I was doing something important.

At the start I start building trust that you can handle responsibility and you learn how to. Further in my placement I was put on a couple of projects that I was fully responsible to see through starting with client meetings, setting up tasks, objectives, deadlines, attending meetings and so on. Of course I still get the full support of management and my mentor.

I can safely say I have learned more for a year here than in University and have gotten hands on experience like no other place. The diversity of technologies used to develop the products here will benefit me in an actual job and will be at extreme benefit in completing my work at university as I have advanced my skills in most of what it will cover. It made me feel more confident in myself to learn new things on my own.

As in most office based jobs there were quiet moments as people are focused on the work they are doing, but there were the occasional fun discussion about all sorts of random things, with my colleagues being fun to talk to, easy going and understanding.

As with anything there are flaws in the structure, but overall it was well though out and it all felt professional and though out. It started off with an induction week and a transition week along with a training period. They made sure all interns were occupied and there was plenty of things to do prior to hiring us.

No company likes to waste money away and they will treat you as an asset that they invest in. Training is extensively provided and mandatory at some times and you are encouraged to go on it. The company assigns you a mentor to guide and train you when you get stuck or just require the necessary training to complete a task.

The Steel Industry has always been a massive one and there is plenty of years left in it. As for Tata, there are many perks of working in a place like this and there is plenty to gain and learn. I would say it is a good career starter!

The 'Interns' at Tata have their own community with events being held all year long and it is a perfect way to meet and socialise with your colleagues I can safely say I finished my placement with a bunch of new people on my friends list thanks to the proactive community we have here!

After all Tata is located close to a two major university towns so I would say social life is not as cheap as I wanted it to be, but it is rather cheap compared to other places I have lived in. Cost of living on the other hand could be competitively expensive considering the vast amount of students living in the area.

Once again it is a student community with plenty of nightlife and events to attend and having bigger cities filled with more and excitement nearby sure made the time fly.

Even if the cities are all about the student life I can say there isn't as much excitement as there are in bigger cities such as London, but there is plenty to do and plenty to see around here.