I quickly settled into the company, thanks to the induction process and support from my co-workers. On my first day, I was given a tour of the shop floor, and completed an online induction course to get me familiar with the company.
To help ease me into the job role, I was given some smaller tasks to build my understanding of the development process and get me up to speed. After this, I was assigned my first project, and whenever I had any queries or issues, my mentor and colleagues were always able to help.
I’m really enjoying my role within the company as it covers every part of software development. Most of my time is spent in designing and developing applications, but a fair amount is in gathering requirements, supporting end-users of the software, and incorporating their feedback into better revisions. As the projects are smaller in scope than normal enterprise software, I get to develop lots of unique applications, experiencing the full development cycle every time.
I wasn’t expecting the job to be as client facing as it is, but it’s turned out to be a really positive experience that’s helping me improve my soft skills.
Whenever I’ve ran into a problem or needed some information, my mentor was my first point of contact and would almost always help me solve the issue. If there was something my mentor couldn’t help me with, he would always give me the name of the person who could, so I was never stuck for long
The placement will definitely improve my prospects for life after university, as, in only a few months, I’ve had the opportunity to develop lots of different skills. My presentation skills and confidence have improved through engaging in team meetings and giving demos of software to management and end users, and my technical skills continue to improve with each application I develop. Also, just experiencing and being part of the business process is invaluable, too.
