Software Engineer - Summer Intern Review

The internship was a highly valuable experience that gave me many opportunities to improve my skills and network with lots of new people. It was very well organised with lots of planned events and talks. I really enjoyed getting to know different people working at the firm, as well as seeing my coding ability improve. The internship also gave me a lot more confidence when coding which I will take forward with me when continuing to develop this skill.

I always felt valued by my colleagues as everyone I asked was willing to talk to me about their role and experiences at the firm, as well as offer me advice. Any ideas I put forward were always listened to and considered and people were always happy to answer any questions I had. Due to the virtual nature of the internship, it was more difficult than usual to meet and communicate with people, however everyone made a huge effort to mitigate this.

Throughout the internship I was given lots of support from my manager/supervisor(s). I had a weekly 1 to 1 meeting with my manager, as well as a weekly pod meeting (with my manager and two other interns) where we would discuss my progress and any queries I had. Also, my manager, recruiters and buddy were always willing to answer any questions I had and offer advice to help me complete tasks. Furthermore, my manager organised several talks with people working in different areas of the firm.

I was fairly busy throughout the internship due to the organised events as well as the work itself. Furthermore, I had less coding experience than some of the other interns so sometimes tasks would take me a bit longer to work out and complete. Also, I organised a lot of networking conversations which took up part of my time. I made the decision that I wanted to be busy and meet lots of people. However, the work was always manageable.

Due to the internship not being completed in the office, the work we were given differed from other years. Therefore, I was not working within my managers line of business but instead we took part in an Interns for Social Good Project, where we worked in a team to solve a problem for a non-profit, and we also completed individual coding challenges. We were, however, still expected to largely organise and complete the project ourselves and carry out two presentations about our solution.

My degree is not directly related to the internship, however the problem solving and teamwork skills I developed will be useful for my final year of study, particularly for any group projects. Furthermore, my confidence when coding has increased a great deal and my communication skills have improved due to talking to lots of new people working in various roles throughout the firm, both of which will aid me throughout the rest of my career.

The internship was organised very well with lots of talks and events planned throughout its duration. These enabled us to hear from people at the most senior levels of the firm. Furthermore, we had a calendar with all our scheduled events in. Also, leading up to the internship, any information provided was clear and forms and set up sessions were easy to follow. In addition to this, recruiters were happy to answer any queries I had.

The firm invested in me a lot, spending plenty of time planning the internship program and organising talks for us to attend. My manager also dedicated a lot of his time to help me with anything I was unsure of, give demonstrations of the tools he uses and organise for us to have discussions with his colleagues. Furthermore, we were given plenty of training courses to do online which gave me a better understanding of the firm and how to apply my technical skills.

All of my fellow internship colleagues that I met were very friendly and made the effort to get to know each other. I attended several intern organised ice breakers where I got to meet different people. Also, the recruitment team organised a quiz for us to do one evening where we were allocated a team. It was a great way to meet more people and do something social outside of work. Considering, the challenges of everything being online, a good effort was made to help us get to know each other.

Given the situation this was difficult, however, outside of work, we were invited to several talks and events held by the firm. Also we got the opportunity to attend an intern quiz one evening to meet more people. Furthermore, people within certain teams organised virtual coffee mornings that we were able to attend. These enabled us to meet people who we would otherwise not and ask people doing the roles we were interested in questions about their experiences.