Software Engineering Intern Review

The first week was very enjoyable, lots of meet and greets. We even went formula 1 simulator driving (although this was only because our office was being refurbished at the time). The rest of the internship was mostly spent sat quietly at a computer. Obviously in software you'd expect a certain amount of this, so maybe the job just isn't for me.

I was given a HR project with a team of other interns, the whole team were very friendly and everybody contributes and commented when you had produced some good work. Other than that, all of my work was done alone with oversight from a mentor.

My mentor would give me a general idea of what I was supposed to be doing, but other than that it was very much a "learn-by-doing" kind of role. If I had specific questions I could always get an answer, but my progress was rarely checked on. Personally, I would liked a much more hands-on approach, but that comes down to personal preference. I understand that everyone had their own work to be getting on with, but more structure to the work would have been welcome.

I always had plenty to do. Between the software work I was doing and the HR project I was given, it was rare that I found myself without something I could be getting on with.

The only real responsibility I was given was managing my own time, which is an important skill to learn. Obviously as a software intern, I didn't expect to be working with actual release code.

I learned about a few programming concepts that I was not previously familiar with. However, all of this learning was done on my own by searching the internet. There was no real training provided. That said, I was able to ask a few people about things I didn't understand.

Very quiet. All you can hear is the tapping of keyboards, people only tend to talk to discuss any help they need on their work. The offices themselves were very nice, owing to them being recently refurbished.

Our office wasn't ready for when we arrived so we didn't have a chance to do any work during the first week. There doesn't seem to be a set structure to what they have you doing. Just whatever they can find to give you. The main project I was given was incredibly vague.

Not a great deal, we sat in on a few training presentations during the first week (however, these weren't really relevant for us, they were for interns in other departments, but we had to attend since our offices weren't ready). Had to watch an hour or so of boilerplate workplace training videos. Didn't receive a great deal of input from my mentor (I got some help whenever I asked for it, but beyond I certain point you just start to feel like a nuisance).

The software department seems to be expanding at the moment, so I would say good.

There were a couple of outings which we were invited to (bbq, drinks) which were all nice. From what I gather the interns in other departments had quite an active social scene, possibly owing to the amount of recent grads in their department.

Reigate is a nice town, with lots of very expensive restaurants, but the affordable canteen made up for this. I managed to find a flat to rent in nearby Redhill, which again wasn't cheap.

Didn't happen to visit any clubs, etc. during my internship.

This week there will a game of rounders organized for employees, other than this I didn't come across many opportunities.