Software Engineering Internship Review

On a day-to-day basis I would attend standups, sprint planning, sprint review (agile ceremonies). This was with my team members and I would sometimes be asked to lead these meetings as well. I would also do coding for new features and in this I was often assisted by my mentor who was experienced in the company codebase. I was also trained as a Quality Engineer which involved Screenshot, UI and Manual Tests. I also had weekly meetings with my manager and also with my assigned buddy.

I was given a lot of responsibility from the start as I was placed in an all-intern mobile team and we had the opportunity to organise standups and other ceremonies on our own. We also had the freedom to create tasks/stories and set our own schedule for how we would complete them. This does not mean we were not able to access help, as all of our mentors as well as managers were always on hand.

I have learned a huge amount of new skills both technical and soft. I gradually became more confident in contributing to team meetings and asking questions when needed. I also learned a lot about mobile development, which I had not experienced before. By the end I was confident writing tests with little to no help and was familiar with company processes. I was also confident in using Git/Github as well as Jira as part of contributing to the team tasks.

I always felt supported by people around me and also by the other interns. There is a very positive environment in Capital One that encourages you to ask questions and to be inquisitive. All interns had an assigned Manager, Mentor and Buddy. The mentor was really good at helping with technical queries as they were closely related to your job role. The manager would have weekly conversations with me on my strengths and weaknesses.The buddy would have much more casual catch-ups where I could discuss anything with them.

Capital One has a very collaborative culture that challenges you but also ensures that you always have appropriate support in place. You are encouraged to ask lots of questions and to show an inquisitive attitude. There is no competition and everyone looks out for each other. At breaks, many teams will play games that are available in the office, which I felt was a really nice way of building a team spirit. The company also hosted its annual festival while I was there.

I really enjoyed my internship as I learned a lot and also got to meet new people. The social opportunities were great and the interns were taken on trips and other events. I enjoyed visiting Nottingham and also got the chance to travel around the area - such as the intern trip to London. Everyone I met was pleasant and helpful and this helped make the internship a positive experience. I would love to come back to Capital One in the future.

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