Technology Analyst Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my year long work placement, I was tasked with a range of jobs from front end React JS, to back end Java Spring Boot. These were excellent learning opportunities for me as I had not done either before and thoroughly enjoyed learning about everything. I also thoroughly enjoyed the social side of it and have made some lifelong friends.

I felt very valued by my employees, I got to know them all very well and I could trust them if I needed help with something, and likewise, I got the impression that they could trust me. I was not sent on typical "intern" tasks, instead I was a fully integrated member of the team.

I was given a lot of guidance, with lots of training support in the form of online learning platforms as well as general face to face support with my team members being always happy to stop their own work and help me out with any issues that I may have been having.

Usually quite busy, my team was understaffed for a large portion of the work placement and so I had to learn how to complete new tasks constantly as there were not enough other team members. This was sometimes frustrating but also a good learning opportunity as I understood the role front to back and got a lot out of it.

I was given a lot of responsibility and treated as if I was a full time employee, I engaged in all the usual meetings as well as being asked regularly for my thoughts during design sessions and sprint planning. After a few months in my team, I did not feel like an intern at all, I felt like a regular employee.

I have learnt a tremendous amount during my placement year, in fact, I would go as far to say that I have learnt more in the past 14months than I have in my past 2 years at university. The skills I have learnt on my placement are incredibly valuable and will help me form a solid foundation to build my career upon.

Excellent atmosphere, I knew all of the staff very well and we regularly engaged in social events together. I formed great relationships with them during my time there, and I will continue to stay in contact with them as I move through my career. Everyone was always happy to converse, but of course when we needed to get on with work, we did.

Generally rather well setup, it is evident that the scheme has been running for a number of years because the staff and general programme is quite mature and fulfilling. The only issue being that sometimes correspondence would take a long time, and I often found myself having to resend documents and information during the application process. I had to send my passport 3 times to 3 different systems.

The firm invested heavily in the interns in terms of training and personal development, they offered numerous opportunities to learn about different technologies as well as offering regular sessions on different, non work related subjects in order to break up the usual work day. The firm are interested in investing in your learning as well as your personal well being.

Because of how amazing the year long internship has been, the prospect of joining the organisation again full time is very appealing. The firm has such as wealth of job opportunities and roles available that there will always be a suitable role for everyone, regardless of their previous experience or discipline.

An excellent social scene, I formed wonderful long lasting friendships with all of the interns and we met for lunch everyday. We also socialised outside of work with semi-regular work events for interns as well as lots of regular meet ups that we organised ourselves. I am looking forward to spending more time with the people that I met here in the future.

Decent. In the south of england the rent prices are moderate, not as high as london, but also not as cheap as some of the other regions of the uk. Socialising will not cost you very much but you may struggle to get around with a poor public transport network.

Average. There are plenty of nightclubs in Bournemouth but nothing to write home about. That said, myself and the other interns had a good time but don't be expecting anything too spectacular. You are better off going to another location such as london if you are mainly interested in the nightlife.

Yes the bank hosts lots of events throughout the year in the office and outside. You can also get involved with many of the banks Business Resource Groups that do all sorts of activities during the work week. There are also several sports teams that exist, I found myself joining in on the running club's activities regularly.