Intern Review

I've learnt novel scripting languages and worked with company systems. That has it's pros and cons: It gave me an overview of what Metaswitch was doing and introduced me to good coding habits, but sometimes felt quite boring. I was not always confident that my work was useful (even though later I realized that it is) and sometimes had to deal with things that I didn't find very interesting. Well, my goal was to find out if I'd like to work in telecommunication software, and I think I've achieved that.

As an intern I didn't feel very important, but I still felt values non the less. I wasn't in the Enfield office, which has a lot of interns, but I still had fun and enjoyed being around my colleagues. I haven't made many friends, but managed to find several really good ones.

Good management and support is probably the strongest sides of this company. They care about how you are improving and scale tasks to accommodate that. I received very good feedback and enjoyed working with my manager. I also always had a technical person to support me if I ran into any difficulties.

My tasks were monitored carefully, by having discussions, so I would always have something to do, but pace management was left entirely to me. For interns, the environment is quite forgiving and focused on helping you learn new things. You don't feel much pressure, but high results are expected of you anyway.

The tasks were meaningful and actually useful for the company. I was part of the team and I was doing the least company knowledge requiring tasks for them. They weren't the easiest ones and were useful for the team. As I was aiming for transferable skills, I'm not entirely happy that I head to learn a lot about internal company systems, but I couldn't say that it was a bad experience.

I learnt two new languages, practiced a third one and learned a lot of how good code looks like. I had too keep up to company's coding standards, and think about efficiency and alternative implementations. Overall, I think it's a great company for talented programmers and an even better one for non-coder people, who want to get into the field. It is so because of how supportive the environment really is.

I think I've already mentioned that - the team was awesome and the colleagues were really friendly. The office isn't huge, but is sunny and has a nice view. The people sometimes organize sports events during lunch breaks, but you aren't pressured into joining them if you don't really want to.

It was quite well made. A lot of thought has gone into making the intern experience the company environment and not being overwhelmed. The mentors are fun to be around and the problems are well balanced in difficulty. There are also events to get to know the main office and have fun, in general.

The company does everything it can to help you develop your skills. There are opportunities to improve both your coding, thinking and presenting skills. And that is well managed and planned. The people listen to what you want and adjust that to match your needs. All in all, I know I will be using the things I learnt, in the future.

I came here to find out whether I'd like to be working in telecommunication software and I don't think I would. The company cares a lot about its people, but I din't find the tasks interesting enough. Also, as it it my first internship, I might change my mind later on.

There weren't many interns in my office, but I've met up with a lot of them in one of the events. They're nice and friendly and I'd probably want to work with them. I've also noticed that they're quite sociable, as our chatroom was always buzzing with interns messaging each other.

I live in a city that's quite expensive, but Metaswitch provided me with a flat that costed ~30% lower than it would if I had rented it myself, which was awesome. I've met some really good friends in that flat. The cost for socializing aren't very steep, as there's always something going on somewhere, for free and the weather is nice.

I'm not too interested in the nightlife, but I did go out with my flatmates a few time, which was fun. There are a lot of clubs and bars around and the people are friendly. Also, the city had lots of nighttime events, so there wasn't a time when I felt bored.

Plenty, as the city has everything. There are places to do any kind of sport in, places to hike about, good geocaching trails, things to see, people to meet. And it was surprisingly sunny outside, all the time. I felt a bit envious for the people not working, while I was in the office.