Software Developer Review

It was great to get experience from a globally recognised company. As HP have been doing this for a few years, they have great experience in training interns and giving us the best experience they can. I felt my year was challenging, entertaining, successful, but most important is the outcome I will be getting from it in the near future.

Initially I wasn't very close to my team-mates, we were more like colleagues than friends, but I they were always available to help. By the end of my year we were all very close and the working environment just felt natural and asking for help just feels natural and I don't feel awkward constantly asking for help. I had my work complimented often and my efforts rewarded.

As well as a manager, I also had a mentor. My mentor is my first point of reference, for less important issues and any help I need. He's very helpful, always willing to give up his time to make my job easier. I can talk to him about any issue I had and I know I will get valuable advice from him. My manager is also always very helpful. Every other week we have 1-to-1 meetings to talk about any issues I may have, any work I want to do or any work I don't feel like it's being helpful for my learning.

There are days where I am very busy and there are days where I am less busy. Most days are well balanced, I have time to complete my tasks and take regular short breaks to stretch my legs and have a drink or a casual chat.

I'm part of a very important team at HP. Sometimes I feel like I don't have much responsibility because I'm mostly triaging packages, testing changes to code, writing tools and debugging issues. On the other hand my team are building the product to ship out to the customer. I'm doing an important role and I'm getting experience in a wide range of areas. I have also been assigned a few tasks where it felt it was trivial for the development of the team. So I'd say it's been fairly balanced

Over the last year I have learned multiple programming languages, received advice from very experienced professionals, gained confidence in working with groups and presenting to large groups, improved my working methodologies and most importantly, I have become more responsible and more aware of the work I have to put in to succeed. This will all help me achieve my best during my final year of university.

It's a very relaxed atmosphere. As in any place of work, when schedules are tight, pressure increases a bit and the environment becomes a little bit more hectic, with people trying to complete their work. 99% of the time, everyone is very happy, chatting, relaxed and doing their job in the best way. It's fun, enjoyable and everyone is helpful

HP have been doing internships for many and many years, so as expected the whole process if very well organised and you always know what to expect when joining a place like this. I feel like I got a lot of experience and help from every member I have been involved with.

There are a lot of HP training courses online available to everyone. We are encouraged to take those courses and make the most of the free training we are given. Every 3 months we get a development day, where we choose an area of our interest that we believe will help us improve ourselves professionally, and spend a whole day working on that.

Graduate scheme at HP looks very interesting and I am looking to apply very soon as I would love to continue a career with HP in the future.

During my placement we had many company organised events and parties. There are sports clubs, where anyone is welcome to join, as well as actual tournaments, where we compete against colleagues. HP encourage employees to socialise and create a good working environment.

I was working in the HP Bristol site. My university is also in Bristol, so the costs were the usual for me. Bristol is a big city, very good artistically and is very popular. Compared to most places in the UK, it's fairly expensive. Compared to other big cities in the UK, it's fairly cheap. I think the cost of living is average.

Nightlife in Bristol is amazing. If you prefer pubs, music and food over clubbing, you're in for a treat. If you prefer clubbing, it's very good and not overpriced.

Yes, I joined a football club outside of work because a colleague convinced me. I also go to the gym often, that is funded by HP and you have many sports available to you.