Software Engineer Review

There was consistently interesting work to do, and I enjoyed working in a team where the code I wrote was actually released and used by customers with just a couple of weeks turnaround. Flexible working hours and friendly colleagues meant I never felt overly pressured or stressed.

Although at first the work that I was given was not the most important, it was still work that provided value to customers and to the team. I was treated like an equal member of the team in almost all respects, and expected to make the same kind of contributions in meetings where I was listened to and engaged with like an ordinary team member.

My mentor was seated next to me and never hesitated in offering help when I asked for it, and also checking in on regular intervals to make sure that I wasn't being held up on any issues. I felt like I was given the right amount of guidance to allow me to make progress while also being able to work through problems on my own.

Most days I had tasks to be getting on with and that I wouldn't be able to finish within a day. I usually had several other tasks I could be looking at if I'd finished with my main one. There were only several days over the internship where I felt light on work, but my manager was always able to provide me with something interesting (if not particularly important) to look at.

In the first month or so of my placement, the tasks I were given were useful although not especially pressing or important, and I feel like these could have been accomplished quickly by the other members of the team. This was good learning experience, and later on I was put in charge of more difficult and complicated tasks that were of higher importance to the team.

I'm happy to have learned several skills like code management and dealing with large codebases and learning new languages before going back to my degree next year, as I feel these will be directly applicable and very useful to my degree. Other more general experience of the process of software engineering I feel will also be useful for after I graduate and try to find a job in this industry.

Relaxed and friendly, but people work hard. There was no expectation to arrive early or stay late, and even though there was a relaxed, friendly atmosphere with plenty of chatter, all of the team were clearly focused on doing a good job.

Metaswitch clearly have lots of interns and the whole internship from initial briefing to reviews and leaving chats seemed very well organised. Managers seemed to know what they were doing, and there were also lots of interns events organised.

I had a mentor who was responsible for my development while I was here and who invested lots of time in making sure I understood concepts and was finding the work I was doing interesting, as well as in helping me if I encountered difficulties.

People seem to enjoy working here and can advance quickly if they want to. I will definitely be considering Metaswitch when I come to be looking for a job next year, especially since they have offices in multiple places so I wouldn't be tied down to a single location.

Plenty of sports clubs and socials for interns to socialise or to relax with and have fun with colleagues.

(I lived at home so harder to comment, local parks and pubs were good though!)

No idea.

Plenty of sports and other events constantly being organised.