Software Engineering Placement Review

I am a Software Engineer working on a new app for our electric vehicle customers. I am involved in sustainability training and research, and push for the move from ICE vehicles to EVs. I work on an agile team with a daily standup, bi-weekly retros, tech debt meetings and bug bashes for my role. As a placement student, I am involved in the various networking groups the company offers - gender network, women in tech network etc.. The placement student led project is to create and implement a carbon reduction initiative.

I have developed my software engineering skills and practices - I have had to learn the React programming language and so I have developed my JavaScript knowledge and the infrastructure/architecture of the codebase and how different departments in the company link together to create solutions. We have had workshops on sustainability, presentations, EDI and more. I have really improved my communication skills - reaching out to multiple colleagues for knowledge of the business. I have set goals for me to meet by the end of the year as part of my role to track my progress and development. I have revised my reusable software engineering practices.

I was given the responsibility of a software engineer, but with less pressure and explicit expectations. I am trusted to be responsible to work and learn, as an employee/team member would be. I am completing real tickets that are pushed to production, working with other people if needed. I also have my own responsibility to take all the opportunities offered to me with the networking events, conference meetings and workshops which I have tried to take as much as possible. The placement students are all in charge of organising themselves, especially with our group project in which we were given a task, and it is up to us to find a solution and plan.

I was paired with a mentor/buddy so that I would always have someone to rely on at the start. As I got more comfortable, I would pair with other people on my team to get knowledge from different sources. I also had my line manager to speak to about anything work related, and even health/mental health related. I feel very supported on this placement. If I even did not know what I was doing I always knew I could be open and honest - I can ask someone for help or guidance whenever.

Very open-minded company with friendly, welcoming people that want to help others. There are multiple networking groups - one for the disability group, the gender network, pride network, mental health, mentality, women in STEM etc... Everybody cares about the work they are doing and about helping others, which allowed me to be myself and not be scared to ask for help. Many events happen throughout the year and the company does treat the employees to various rewards.

I really enjoy my placement. I am excited to start on new tickets and do my job as I am very interested in computer science/software engineering. Not only am I gaining the practical experience I have always wanted, but I am developing my soft skills, meeting new people and taking on so many opportunities that have been offered by the company. I enjoy going into the office - we have a 3 day work policy so I can use 2 days remote but sometimes I will not use both my remote days because the office atmosphere is nice

Yes

To be honest, down to earth and unafraid to ask questions. Learn about the scheme, the customers/people that use the scheme and what you would get out of the job on a personal level, not just technical/skills. It is useful to learn accessibility features within a workplace due to the nature of the company and the customers' varied experiences. A big part of what we do is currently around electric vehicles, so being able to show knowledge around that area would be great