Software Engineer Intern Review

Overall, I enjoyed the placement, the standard of intern was very high, in that everyone was likeable and driven to do their work. The platform of GES in particular, of innovation based project work, was very enjoyable.

I felt very valued, working in a team of two on a new project meant that the success or failure of that project depended heavily upon my performance. For this reason, we were seen as hugely valued. Several presentations and Q & A sessions by some very high up BT staff made the interns really feel part of BT, and it felt like the whole organisation really wanted us to improve and learn from the experience.

We had two allocated supervisors who were always available to help, as well as specific contact points for any disputes or issues technically or personally. In this area, the platform and style of the internship, a closely monitored project, meant we were given top notch guidance throughout.

Towards the end of the placement, everyone was very busy, due to the deadline nature of the work. Everyone was happy to do this, but it did get very difficult towards the end to get everything done. This is mainly due to the projects being very open ended.. it is impossible to gauge how far a group will get and how much work they will leave themselves!

As a 2 man team, with complete responsibility for a real project, I really felt like I was making a lot of the decisions. On numerous occasions I would make direct changes to our solution, and this was something I had the power and responsibility to do.

I gained many good skills from this placement, particularly in presentation, customer focus, and the ability to work under pressure. Overall it was a fantastic learning experience, and I would recommend the placement to anyone. The work in my final year of university does not seem so difficult after my BT project!

This was a unique situation for my placement; the 10 hired interns worked in close quarters, and so, although the work was hard and we all got a lot done, the laughter never stopped. The atmosphere was fantastic, and working with people of the same age group who were nice people was an absolute joy.

The internship was very open ended, and so, although in terms of start and end dates, etc it was very well organised, the milestones and finish dates for our work was really up to us.

There were several events where BT staff would give up their time to talk to us about their experiences, give career tips and advice, or even talk us through technologies they were expert in. Aside from this, we were being paid to work on projects with real risk, almost feasibility studies, so no direct guaranteed profit add. For these reasons it really felt like BT was investing in us, in the hopes that we would enjoy the placement and return as graduates.

I was offered a graduate job with the same department only one or two months after finishing my placement.

Everyone hired was a young, sociable person, and so there was a good social scene. The department overall has a lot of young people, and events with many people from all across the department were not uncommon. The graduate social scene is excellent.

Ipswich doesn't have a lot, but it is not too expensive to live there.

Again, Ipswich isn't the best place for nightlife. There are a number of pubs and bars, but not many nightclubs. I did have one or two very good nights out however.

Graduate supervisors organised multiple events, such as bowling, and cricket, to get to know us and get us involved in the social scene.