Software Intern Review

The internship was incredibly enjoyable from start to finish. Every day was filled with exciting challenges to tackle as a result of working on real projects from the first day I started. I never got stuck with made-up "intern work" while everyone got on with the real stuff. Another thing that's definitely worth mentioning is the Red Gate Culture. I've never known a workplace where everyone is so friendly and because the atmosphere is really positive, it definitely encourages and supports great work to be completed. Plus, the coffee machines, foosball games and free breakfast and lunches are all amazing and absolutely worth the mention.

Everyone at Red Gate treated me like a full time member and it was really easy to forget I was an intern. I was tasked with building solutions to real problems and trusted to work on these independently, just like one of the full time Software Engineers. Each time I presented the work I'd been getting on with, everyone was really positive and encouraging about what I'd been doing. All in all, everyone at Red Gate made me feel really welcome and the people themselves were definitely a big part in making it such a brilliant experience.

Guidance and support was readily available as a result of being paired with a specific manager. I sat next to my manager for the duration of the internship and was able to receive any feedback, guidance or support immediately. My manager was incredibly approachable, friendly and very supportive throughout the duration of the internship. Any questions I had were answered clearly and thoroughly. Sometimes they even prompted discussion with other team members which led to even greater explanations and answers to the things I was unsure about.

Every day was full of interesting challenges and not once did I ever feel like I was twiddling my thumbs. Although it's certainly true that I had plenty to do each day which would definitely keep me occupied, the workload was never too much to be stressful. Short breaks to grab a coffee, play a quick game of foosball, or watch skill developing videos as part of a team provided a great balance to the overall experience.

I felt like I was given a lot of responsibility as part of the internship. I was responsible for developing my own solutions to real problems I was tackling, which would then later be reviewed by other team members to provide feedback or suggestions on what I'd completed independently. Everyday we would have discussions to talk about how each persons work was coming along, but other than that and brief chats about my work outside of those, it was up to me to produce the solutions to the problems. Obviously if I needed any help or got stuck, help was immediately accessible and collaboration with other team members on problems, often in the form of pair programming, was even encouraged.

The internship at Red Gate has given me such vital experience and skills to take back for my final year of University. Being able to apply what I'd learnt from University in a real world situation was a great opportunity, but what I'm able to bring back for my final year is far more beneficial. Discussions with my team and everyone else at Red Gate provided great insight into the industry and being able to apply myself in a real workplace with skills I'd developed at university was fantastic. In addition, the activities available to take part in while working at Red Gate (all the way from the general work completed each day, to talks given on interesting subjects by people at Red Gate and "Coding Katas" to brush up on or even learn new coding skills) provided a unique chance to learn new and relevant things that simply isn't as readily available in education alone.

The whole atmosphere was always incredibly positive. Everyone I met each day was more than happy to chat about anything at all and everyone was always very friendly. Enjoying your day and having fun is also encouraged, which certainly was the case each day I was in.

The internship was incredibly well organised and I never experienced any bumps at all. The initial application process was very straightforward and responses were incredibly fast. During my time actually at Red Gate, it was more of the same: very well organised. I always knew what I was doing or what I was expected to do.

There's a great deal of opportunity to improve the skills you already have in the form of pair programming, "Coding Katas", training style videos on development processes and lots more. These were made available to me as an intern as well, which really gave me chance to learn and develop more outside of applying myself to the tasks I worked on each day.

Future employment prospects are very appealing. Many of the people I'd met at Red Gate were previously interns like myself.

The social scene at Red Gate is really encouraged. Every week there were trips out after work, be that an evening at the pub, going punting or someone hosting a weekend barbecue. Everyone's really friendly and you feel like you're working alongside friends. There's also a huge bunch of clubs that are run by people in Red Gate and if there isn't one that you want to do, you're encouraged to make it!

Cambridge isn't the cheapest area to live, but it's not ridiculous either. You can always find something to do, whether that's an expensive night out or some light, perhaps cheaper entertainment.

Again, Cambridge isn't exactly renowned for it's huge nightlife scene, but there's still plenty of choice if that's your thing.

I would often get emails about different activities or events that were being held after work or on weekends, so there definitely seems to be plenty going on outside of work.