Software Engineering Summer Placement Student Review

The first few weeks of my placement were spent doing training modules to learn how to use the software required for my role, such as Salesforce and some AWS (Amazon Web Services). I then collaborated with another Summer Placement Student to deliver a project for one of the teams, in the form of an application that used some of the services offered by AWS. Throughout my placement, I attended regular team meetings and spoke to members of my team to hear about their journey and their role.

I have developed my technical skills greatly through this placement. I am studying Mechanical Engineering at university, rather than something more directly related to software, and so the amount of training available was extremely helpful for me. This was further enhanced by the opportunity to apply what I learnt in a hands-on project, which also enable me to deliver something of value that I could be proud of. I also developed my communication, collaboration and public speaking skills, with an opportunity to give a presentation at the end about my experience.

When I was carrying out the project at the end of the placement, I was able to take on responsibility, as the other Summer Placement student and I were given almost total control over the solution we delivered. This was extremely valuable, because I was able to take responsibility for my work, have something to be proud of after my placement and also be able to feel like I really left my mark on the company.

The support and guidance I received during my placement was very good. My line manager was so welcoming, friendly and willing to help throughout. Right at the beginning of the placement, she asked what I wanted to get out of the experience, and then tried to tailor the work I was doing so that I was able to achieve those goals. When I needed work to do, she was always looking to find opportunities that would help me and that aligned with what I had said I wanted from the experience.

The culture at Centrica was the biggest surprise for me. Before my placement, I had obviously heard about the 5 core values that they had, but what I didn't expect was that, in a company that is so big, it would be possible to have and maintain an environment that is so personal and welcoming. When everyone is so approachable like that, it makes it so much easier to speak to and learn from people, and to grow.

I enjoyed my placement so much. I was hoping to learn from my placement, especially with my background being Mechanical Engineering rather than Software Engineering or Computer Science, but I honestly learnt so much more than I even could have hoped for. In addition, the induction week and final week that was organised with all of the interns from all different departments was so good for getting to know the other placement students, and made the whole experience even more enjoyable.

Yes

I would tell them to definitely apply, and to, as much as possible, not stress too much about the application process, particularly when it comes to the assessment centre. Although this is obviously a stressful thing to prepare for, once it begins you quickly realise that everyone there is on your side and is rooting for you to do well, and this continues even once you have started your internship and throughout the duration of your placement.