Software Engineering Intern Review

As a software engineer intern, I was assigned an initial project based on a matching of my interest and the company's requirement. On a day-to-day basis, I would start the day with a standup and share my progress with my team members, this will also allow me to raise any issues I may have faced such that assistance can be provided to me. After standup I would continue to work on my project and should I encounter any problem, my mentor and team lead were always on hand to guide me to an answer.

My project has exposed me to container technology such as Docker and also most importantly, C++. Not only that I was also exposed to working in a large enterprise and learn about how new features are deployed and bug tracking are managed in a large enterprise like Bloomberg. Furthermore as I had a single project to work on from stand to finish. I was able to learn how the Agile methodology can help to frame the entire software development life cycle from start to finish.

Yes indeed. I was fortunate enough to be able to finish my internship project relatively early into my internship and through discussion with my mentor, I was then assigned more work that were suitable to my current level such that I would still be able to continue to grow but not face a steep learning curve. While it sounds like more work, I instead viewed it as more opportunities to learn. Conversing with other interns, this approach is definitely very similar for all interns that joined Bloomberg where we can raise requests for new/additional work or even steer the direction of our own project.

I received a lot of support. During the initial month of my internship, my mentor was always around to answer any questions that I may have. This is also facilitated by Bloomberg's office design which allows people to easily move to another person's table to seek help. Furthermore when my mentor went on leave for 2 weeks, my team lead assigned me another person which I can directly go to to seek advice from. Besides my mentor, everyone in Bloomberg has been extremely helpful. I would always be able to just reach out to other teams and they would be able to provide me a response to my questions usually within a couple of minutes.

The company definitely had a very collaborative and open culture. There was no need to be afraid to ask "stupid questions" as senior engineers understand the steep learning curve for newcomers. Besides that, many social events (along with free food) was constantly organized so that interns can not only network with each other, but also with the wider community. Regular workshops were also conducted for all levels (entry/experienced) to join and learn so that they can continue to develop their skills or learn about development happening in other teams

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship as it not only exposed me to lots of new technology. The work definitely felt extremely meaningful as it is used by teams daily. Not only that but I was constantly encouraged by my mentor and team lead to work on projects that I am interested in. Furthermore the many social events and food also meant that I was able to network with many people (some of them have even become close friends of mine).

Yes

I would encourage people applying to be ready to learn and dun be afraid to ask questions. During my coding interview, I definitely faced difficulty understanding the problem and coming up with a solution. However, I believe what impressed my interviewer was the fact that when I was stuck, I was not afraid to sound out and seek help. I would also encourage people to ask themselves why they would want to apply to or work at Bloomberg.