Software Developer Intern Review

I enjoyed the work itself quite a lot. The problems I had to solve were challenging and interesting, often I felt like coming in early and staying late by my choice. Unfortunately, it is not a progressive workplace compared to other tech-only companies: I was denied wide-screens for development, denied bringing in my good keyboard, there is no food at the location I worked at, and no real way to distract yourself from work if needed. Also remember the dress code.

From the very first day everybody treated me as one of them. I did not feel like an intern, which is great. The work I've done was appreciated and valued, and my colleagues made me feel at home both work and social wise.

To whatever extend I needed. My supervisor was very helpful, I got to sit at the desk right next to him, and whenever I needed anything he was available for me for both advice, and discussion between the two of us about the best course of action for everything career and project oriented.

As busy as I wanted to. There was always interesting stuff to work on, always something to be thinking about, but the actual workload was up to me. I loved to work hard, because I love what I did at J.P. Morgan, so I kept myself busy. There was no pressure though, and the work was therefore very pleasant.

I was entrusted multiple projects from beginning to finish. One of them was a crucial element in the larger scheme of things, and it was very encouraging to see that my contributions are treated with due importance. Same goes for voicing my opinion of the decisions that impact the direction of the project - whenever I had anything to voice based on my experience this was taken into account.

I can honestly say that in the two months with J.P. Morgan I learned more than I did over the past three years at the university. The pace of work and the team I was working with made it really exciting to push my limits and learn new things, and I think this will benefit my education both inside and outside the university environment.

The atmosphere in the office was very pleasant, it felt quite relaxed and encouraging. The people were friendly, and talked about more than just work, while remaining productive. People even outside my team were willing to stop by and chat about both work and general things as well.

The internship started off with a two day trip to London, which was really well organized. Including the logistics of travel and accommodation, I have to say I could not be happier. As far as the organization of the actual work goes, that was left to our supervisors, and in my team most things were setup for me, including a few projects to work on.

There was a strong emphasis on the learning aspect of the internship, I was encouraged to explore and not worry about the deliverables as much. As far as conferences or learning sessions/classes, nothing was available. Few classes that company provided for developers to get better were all booked full from the very first day of the internship. Unfortunate.

Well, I would love to work for J.P. Morgan in the future, because the work is really cool and engaging. The people I worked with were really pleasant as well. However, the work environment is not as progressive as in other tech-only companies (think no dress code, free food, relax areas, social events). Because of that, whether or not would a potential employment be appealing would depend on the actual terms of a job offer.

The social scene was great. I was lucky enough to know a lot of interns from the university, so we just kept hanging out together. The company didn't provide or directly support any social events for the interns throughout the internship, but interns took their own initiative and kept organizing events themselves by the means of social media.

Glasgow in general is rather cheap, especially when compared to places like London. During the summer most students are away, which drives the cost of accommodation further down over the summer. Socializing is also rather cheap.

Most of the good Glasgow pubs, bars, and nightclubs are in the city center, where J.P. Morgan offices are as well. Whenever there is desire to have a good time in the evening, the city is alive and there is plenty of place to enjoy. And Glasgow is a really good scene for music!

The company has a wide range of active sports clubs, football, basketball, lunch-time running etc. On top of that, the city itself provides a lot of opportunities for doing stuff, there is a lot of stuff to see and do in Glasgow in general.