Software Development Engineer Review

I was an iOS developer in a mobile team, where I worked with 3 other interns to deliver a feature over 10 weeks. On a day-to-day basis, I would attend stand-up, attend any training or presentations that were put on to make the most of my time on the internship, have refinement or planning sessions for our project, and spend the majority of the time working on delivering the feature, with guidance from my mentor.

I was able to take on the task of leading daily stand up a number of times, which was a small leadership role. I also took part in an internship-grad collaboration project in which it was much easier to take a lead role because we all had similar backgrounds. I had a responsibility for my intern project as well, as it was something that 4 of us were working on and it was reliant on our work whether we would get it released.

I have learnt countless new skills during my placement, firstly coming from a maths degree and so not knowing that much coding, I have learnt so much in terms of technical skills. I did not know anything about iOS development before the programme and I ended up delivering a feature so that is a testament to my learning journey. Also, I have had the opportunity to develop my communication and leadership skills when leading meetings and presenting, teamwork as I worked a lot in different teams, and I am so much more confident now than I was when I started.

I received a lot of support and guidance. I was assigned a manager, a mentor, and a buddy. The buddy is someone you can go to for day-to-day issues and guidance, for example if you had a question about hybrid working or the best places to eat lunch, or a concern that you wanted to escalate but weren't sure how. The mentor is someone who is working the same role as you but more advanced, and they help you in your learning journey and support your project. This was the biggest source of support for me on the programme. I also had a weekly half an hour meeting with my manager where we were able to discuss my progress and I was able to get some feedback.

The culture at Capital One is quite laid-back: although the work is challenging and there's always something to do, there is time to relax and you are always encouraged to stick to your working time (9-5:30 roughly, although it is not policed). Teams often eat lunch together and there are often team-building activities and fun days which take you away from the office and allow people to recharge. We also have team fun once a week. Despite this, we are expected to get some work done, so it is important to balance your time.

I loved my internship at Capital One, not only did I learn so, so much but I also had a really great time and became a better person overall, especially in terms of confidence, I am a quite shy person but this internship has really allowed me to feel more confident and sure of myself, I am capable of great things. I find out tomorrow whether or not I will be getting a grad offer but I'm really hoping I do, Capital One is a great place to work and I would love to come back.

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