Summer Placement Engineer Review

The placement was very interesting and I found out a lot about software development is performed in industry. I had little previous experience with what my team was working on, and I now think I would rather work on something different in future, but I still view the placement as a very positive experience.

My team were all very friendly and welcoming. They were easy to get along with and have a chat with at lunch or over tea/coffee in the kitchen, and every few weeks we would go for a drink at a nearby pub at lunch time.

When I arrived, my supervisor helped me get everything set up, and I had a few training sessions for the software used by the company. All of my team were very helpful in answering all my questions, and explaining concepts to me that I wasn't familiar with.

It took a while before I was given any work to do, and whenever I finished a task, it would usually take a long time before I was given something new to do. In the meantime, I could at least take a look at the codebase and documentation, though this wasn't particularly engaging.

Because I was unfamiliar with how the software works, there were few things I could do directly with the codebase (especially since I was only here for 11 weeks, which isn't really enough time to learn everything about it). However, I could work on some self-contained parts (such as making software tools).

Seeing how software development is performed in industry was very interesting, and I learned several useful skills (such as Python and platform-agnostic C programming). I also got a lot more experience with developing on Linux.

Definitely relaxed and informal, though everyone was still always busy at work.

It was a little disorganised, e.g. at first there was no computer set up for me, and my team took a while to find work for me to do, but after a while everything was running smoothly. About 2/3 of the way through, I had a catchup with HR who made sure I was getting on okay.

There was a training with the other interns for the revision control software, and whenever there was some equipment/software that I didn't know how to use, people in my team were always happy to show me what to do.

Now that I've taken a look at what this particular team does, I think I would rather work on something else in future. But HR were very helpful in talking about possible future prospects in the company, so I may be back for a placement next year, working on something different in another department.

There were a few trips to the pub with the other interns after work, and a lunchtime meetup in the canteen. The first couple of intern meetups were organised by HR for use to get to know each other, then they left it up to us to organise things, e.g. another intern had a barbecue at his house.

Can't comment as I lived at home and commuted in.

The Sports and Social Club had fairly regular events, and occasionally my team would invite me out for a meal with them after work. However I didn't go to any events outside of work (except the intern meetups) as I'd generally prefer to spend my free time at home.