Software Development Student Placement Review
at Newcastle Building Society
Placement (10 Months+)
Software Engineering
Wallsend
Review Submitted: July 2024
Overall Rating
4.7 /5
The Overall Rating is the average of all the ratings given in each category. We take those individual ratings and combine them into one final score!
4/5
-
Overview of Role
5/5
-
Skills Development
5/5
-
Support and Guidance
5/5
-
Company Culture
3/5
-
Overall Experience
4/5
-
Future Career Prospects
Overview of Role
Please give an overview of your role and what this involves on a day-to-day basis.
My title was Software Development Student Placement, however, the role was within the Software QA department as an Automation Test Engineer, I was responsible for writing and performing tests against various solutions that my team was responsible for (mainly writing automated tests), and assisting in software deployments by performing live regression testing.
Were you given much responsibility during your placement / internship?
I was given as much responsibility as I was prepared to take.
Please rate how meaningful the work you were doing was
4/5
Skills Development
Have you learnt any new skills, or developed your existing skills?
Over my placement, I learnt and developed many skills including but not limited to:
- ASP.NET development
- SpecFlow
- Gherkin
- IBM i
- C#
- Azure DevOps pipelines
- Azure Application Insights
- Kubernetes
- Agile software development
- ASP.NET development
- SpecFlow
- Gherkin
- IBM i
- C#
- Azure DevOps pipelines
- Azure Application Insights
- Kubernetes
- Agile software development
How would you rate the training provided during your experience?
5/5
How would you rate your development of industry-specific skills during the experience?
5/5
How would you rate your development of personal / soft skills during the experience?
5/5
Please rate how these skills have helped you in your career development
5/5
Support and Guidance
How much support and guidance did you receive during your placement / internship?
I was given plenty of support and guidance throughout my placement, I had a great manager and great mentor.
How would you rate the support and guidance from your line manager?
5/5
How would you rate the support and guidance from the wider team?
5/5
Company Culture
What was the company culture and general atmosphere like?
There is a focus on inclusivity, diversity, and a no-blame culture for mistakes.
How would you rate the inclusiveness of the culture?
5/5
How would you rate the social opportunities?
5/5
How would you rate the diversity initiatives?
5/5
How would you rate the charity, sustainability and corporate social responsibility (CSR) initiatives?
5/5
Overall Experience
To what extent did you enjoy your placement / internship?
I thoroughly enjoyed my placement and the opportunities it presented.
However, I applied to a very ambiguous role where the job title was "Software Development Student Placement" and the job description described working "alongside Automation Test Engineers and Software Developers". This gave me (and many others from previous years) the impression that although automation testing would be part of the role, so would software development -- which it turned out not to be, as software development opportunities were sparse.
From speaking to people in IT Development and Software QA, the job title not matching the job description appears to be a deliberate miscommunication as I've been told that this has been raised to the attention of Early Talent and HR multiple times.
However, I applied to a very ambiguous role where the job title was "Software Development Student Placement" and the job description described working "alongside Automation Test Engineers and Software Developers". This gave me (and many others from previous years) the impression that although automation testing would be part of the role, so would software development -- which it turned out not to be, as software development opportunities were sparse.
From speaking to people in IT Development and Software QA, the job title not matching the job description appears to be a deliberate miscommunication as I've been told that this has been raised to the attention of Early Talent and HR multiple times.
Please rate your level of enjoyment on your placement / internship
4/5
Please rate how your experience met your expectations
2/5
Future Career Prospects
Please rate the future employment prospects at Newcastle Building Society
4/5
Recommendations & Advice
Would you recommend Newcastle Building Society to a friend?
Yes
What advice would you give to others applying to Newcastle Building Society
If you're enthusiastic then you'll do great, not only in the assessment centre, but also in daily work.
Something of note is that in comparison to several other companies, IT Development and Software QA do not offer any graduate positions / part-time positions at the end of your placement, although, some other departments within the company do offer this.
Something of note is that in comparison to several other companies, IT Development and Software QA do not offer any graduate positions / part-time positions at the end of your placement, although, some other departments within the company do offer this.
