Software Engineer Intern Review

I spent most of my internship with a dev team working on production software. Through working with them I learned a lot about software engineering and how to work as part of a team. Everyone in the company was very supportive and seemed keen to make me feel at home. I thoroughly enjoyed my internship and didn't feel like I missed out due to remote working.

I was part of a team of developers from day one. Because of this, I got the opportunity to develop relationships with them that wouldn't have been possible if I spent less time with them. Throughout the internship, I made several contributions to production code which made it very clear the effect of my contributions on the company as a whole.

Redgate assigned me a line manager (another member of my team) who was able to help me with all of the problems I brought to him. I was offered guidance and a personal development plan which we reviewed every few weeks as part of the internship. I always felt like my line manager and by extension, Redgate wanted to help me achieve my goals.

Through my internship at Redgate, I learned how to be a software engineer. I came with a fairly good understanding of most common programming concepts but through applying these at Redgate I gained a much deeper understanding of why they are needed and how they are used. I can see this being useful as I progress throughout my career. In the shorter term, it should help focus my efforts on my degree.

From day one I was integrated into a dev team. This meant I started learning straight away and through a series of induction events with my team and with other parts of the company I learned a lot about how to company functioned and what was expected of me. Every few weeks I met with my line manager for a more formal discussion about my progress and what I wanted to achieve over the next few weeks.

The atmosphere was very friendly and fairly relaxed. Due to remote working, it was harder to meet new people but this didn't seem to impact the atmosphere. Everyone who I met was friendly and wanted to say hi. Within my team, I felt like I had a voice and that my work was appreciated. I also participated in two company-wide events that were dedicated to taking time away from work to improve our skills and explore new ideas.

Through working on products I quickly gained an understanding of the underlying technologies they used to develop software. My line manager and I met frequently to discuss my progress and set out goals for me to work on before our next meeting.

Everyone at the company was remote working at the time of my internship. Because of this, I got a good idea of how the company functioned remotely. I believe I also know what the company is like normally, as colleagues were keen to share answers to any questions I had.

Company culture is a big deal at Redgate. Everyone from the CEO downwards is keen to make Redgate a friendly and welcoming environment. Staff in the product division are actively encouraged to take 10% of their working time for self-development (whether that be reading a relevant book or learning a new technology). We had a week-long event for learning and self-development where we were able to take time away from our regular work.

I got a good idea of what it means to be a software engineer thanks to Redgate. Because I was working as part of a regular team, I was able to experience the lives of people much more experienced than myself. This has been very helpful for me by allowing me to refine my goals and decide on a career path.

I have no complaints about the amount that I was paid.

Redgate is a heavy user of Slack, making it very easy to get in contact with new people thanks to all the channels there are to participate in. There were a few networking events throughout my internship and special projects where teams mixed and allowed for the easy meeting of new people.

They were generally relaxed and friendly. At the networking events, I felt like there was adequate time to meet new people and they ran a good format too. Social events within the team were commonplace, with less frequent meetings of product and division groups. I think this went very well, much better than I had expected from remote working.

There were occasional quizzes and murder mysteries hosted outside of work hours. In addition to this, my team met once a week for some social activities (usually video games/puzzles due to remote working).

Yes, absolutely. I have really appreciated the experience and have no real complaints about my time at Redgate.