Software engineering Intern Review
by Metaswitch Networks
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
3.4
-
The Company
4.2
-
The Culture
3.4
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
Once settled in properly I started enjoying it more and definitely left with an overall positive impression.
My team were great and definitely made me feel valued (probably unjustified), although I wasn't working directly with them as my work was a bit of a side project.
My manager and the rest of the team were great, I sat next to my manager and he helped me whenever I needed it but also wasn't constantly looking over my shoulder.
My code took a long time to run so there could sometimes be some sitting around waiting for a test to finish, but I was given a proper project that definitely occupied me properly on a daily basis.
If my particular project turned out to work consistently enough it will be very useful to the team, but if it doesn't then it will not affect anyone else's work, so in that sense I didn't have as much responsibility as some of the other interns. I did take on the responsibility of organising a trip to laser quest though which was arguably more important than any other task I undertook in my internship.
Not useful for my degree but it's something I've been interested in and wanted to try out, and could maybe be useful in general.
The Company
Controllable fun. Everyone got their work done but there was also a fair amount of joking around and it wasn't frowned upon to go over and chat to other interns in the office either.
Definitely well organised.
They taught me how to program from scratch and also a lot of your manager's time is allocated towards helping you, both for technical and personal development. They've also offered me sponsorship for the year on the condition that I do another internship next summer, which is very generous.
Flexi Time
Sports and Social Club
Financial Bonus
Company Parties/Events
Many of the current employees were summer interns at some point, and if you wish to apply for a graduate job you only have to do the second stage of interview.
The Culture
The company arrange housing for the interns and an intern mailing list - so a social scene naturally developed out of that. There is also a company tab at the pub for new starters or for leavers.
It wasn't too expensive - pub lunches near the office were reasonable. Most socialising in the area would revolve around the company houses anyway. London is much more interesting but obviously more expensive - going in regularly racks up reasonable travel costs.
Don't know - there were apparently some bar/clubs/blubs.
There was a lot of sport or board games organised through the office. Depending on the team there were other work social events.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Information Technology
London
October 2012
