Software Developer Engineer in Test Review

I loved my internship year at Microsoft. I got to work on many different projects, expand my skill set and help out at events around the country

From day one I was just treated as part of the team, I don't do anything differently as an intern than the other full time employees in my team. I have been able to make a big impact in the team I belong to and my department.

My manager always gave support where needed, but also gave me independence to complete projects without guidance. My manager also identified projects that would help me develop my technical knowledge in different areas in preparation for graduating.

It was an incredibly busy year, however this is how I made it to be! I wanted to be involved in lots of projects and events to gain as much experience as possible. I worked in one of Microsoft's game studios and as expected near launch/big events this was the busiest time, but the more you put in the more you get out!

I was given the same responsibility as all my other colleagues, within the first two months I was writing code that would last longer than my internship! I was in quite a small team that had a lot of work to complete, so we each took responsibility for different areas but of course everyone was there to help and support each other too.

Absolutely invaluable. This year has helped me to develop and learn new technical skills and soft skills. Before starting my placement I was less confident in my abilities, however over the past year opportunities have been identified that helped me improve. I am now much more confident about graduating than I was a year ago, and much better prepared for graduate applications

I think this is a bit biased working in a games studio, of course it is an exciting place to work! We never had a dull day, something was always happening good or bad! We all had a passion for the title we were working on, I think this is a major factor in the atmosphere of the office.

There is a great staffing team who organise events and support throughout the year. We were given 1 week initial training with all the other interns, then went into our own departments/roles for further training.

I had support from my mentors, my managers and my colleagues. I shadowed people from around the business to gain more experience of different roles I might want to go in to, and whilst shadowing I was able to actually complete work with the teams I was in. Microsoft organised mock assessment centres, chances for you to talk to members of the senior leadership team, and offered the chance for you to help at different events. I think they really did invest in every one of the interns to help them develop professionally over the past year.

As interns we have not had the interviews for graduate jobs yet (but it will be happening later this month). We all have the chance to apply for the graduate scheme, and as interns we get to skip some of the application stages. I am pretty confident I can get a graduate job with Microsoft be it through becoming a contractor or applying through the MACH scheme.

Interns were always organising nights out/day trips. Microsoft also organised Mid and End of year events for us all to get together and review our time here.

I go to university in Birmingham, Reading is not as cheap. However it is really close to London and we went out there quite a lot! The cost of living in reading is average, I think my house was £80 a week NIB.

Again I usually went out in London, or when visiting friends still at uni around the country.

Lots of social/sports clubs, lots of events both social and corporate.