Software Developer Review

I was tasked with creating various systems that benefit different teams. My day-to-day tasks revolve around picking up stories (tasks) from the team board and executing them promptly. These tasks vary depending on the teams' goals for the quarter. When a task would be complete I proceed to create a Merge Request which gets reviewed by the team. While I have spare time it's also reasonable to go through other team members Merge Requests to assess them to the best of my ability. Participating in planning sessions is also part of my monthly task where we hash out the requests from the Product Developement team to deliver them exactly what they want.

Throughout this year, due to the exposure to various teams, the number of skills I've picked up is grand. The primary language I've used this year is GoLang. I was never taught GoLang in University but it's now one of my favourite languages to use as I've discovered the real advantages of using it. Along with GoLang I've learned: React, MySQL, Docker, Kubernetees, Jenkins, PHP, MongoDB, OracleDB, Prometheus, Kibana, Elasticsearch, Bash. Apart from these languages I was also exposed to Linux. Early in the year my Ubuntu machine broke and was replaced with an Oracle Linux which was extremely annoying at first but now I'm glad as I've managed to learn how to use the two major distributions of Linux.

The responsibility grew as I've developed my skills during this placement. At the start, I was excluded from the main team to work on my own project (still benefitting the business). This separation helped me understand the procedures that were in place that I had to follow. By our 2nd rotation, we were fully working as valid members of the team - delivering code for the main team's purpose, along with help by pair-programming with other team members. By our 3rd rotation, I've become more independent and confident that I can complete tickets on my own.

I've had weekly catch-ups with my manager which helped me develop as a developer. I've had monthly catch-ups with my mentor which helped me explore other skills I was interested in developing in areas like AI and Architecture. I've had quarterly catch-ups with my intern program manager which helped me align what I wanted to gain from the internship to what I was actually doing. I feel like the support was always there when I required it through pair programming and team discussions. The teams here at Oracle are always friendly and helpful when offering helpful advice.

Oracle has many groups which help you entail your interests during work. For example, I've helped run an org-wide virtual MacMillan Coffee Morning. They also have diverse groups which pursue the purpose of diversifying the working environment. I feel like they achieve their purpose extremely well as most of the teams I've worked in are extremely diverse. Diversity in Software Engineering is very important as it enables different perspectives on a problem. Like I said the general atmosphere of the company is extremely friendly.

I extremely enjoyed the placement. The skills offered were extremely useful and I feel like I've provided real business value. I feel like I wasted no time in this placement as every day I've learned something new because of the various tasks the business works on. The rotations scheme is probably one the most useful aspects of it as it enabled me to experience different teams, different coding environments and different working strategies. I was also offered some "short rotations" which helped me explore unexplored areas such as Business Analytics, Product Management and Planning.

Yes

I would suggest doing personal projects in areas they enjoy. Enjoy growing things? Write an automated greenhouse management software Personal projects that you enjoy both makes you sound interesting during interviews and displays your knowledge in areas of Software Engineering. I believe the only thing is to do a project that you genuinely enjoy as you can easily see whether someone is passionate about the project they've done. I would also recommend trying to sound realistic rather than super smart. People that think they're smarter than everyone else are difficult to work with. Meanwhile people that are clueless actually understand how major the field of Software Engineering is and even with 50 years of experience you will never know everything.