Software Engineer (Industrial Placement) Review

Being an IP at Holiday Extras was a great opportunity to get to grips with how software engineers work in the real world industry. There was no coffee-running or just watching other people do work - I jumped straight in and, with the help of my peers, I was able to improve the platform and make changes that customers would benefit from.
Generally, we practice agile ceremonies throughout the week to ensure we're up to date with work. We have collaboration sessions where we work with solution architects and other teams to discuss the work we're doing. A lot of my time is spent in the code, where we make use of AI tools such as Claude, Codex and Cursor to assist us in writing code. When I'm not writing code, I could be reviewing my teammates PR (the code they want to publish), or discussing what the correct approach to solve a problem is.

Absolutely - I was trusted to maintain multiple services, improving observability and performance by myself. I helped design architectural documents and my voice was valued during meetings. During the company-hosted hackathon, I assisted with creating an AI agent which allowed fellow engineers to query it via Slack to ask for business context. At the end of the hackathon, I presented the work we did in front of the entire product development team!
Of course, when I started I wouldn't have been able to do any of the above, however throughout my placement year I built the confidence and technical know-how thanks to those around me. Not only that, but my social skills improved substantially as well. It's a good atmosphere to grow in; you'll interact with people from all walks of life all across the business. Holiday Extras offered me a great opportunity and gave me plenty of room to grow , I would highly recommend this placement year to whoever is reading this! :)

Looking back after finishing my placement year with Holiday Extras, I've developed much more socially than technically. Breaking technical concepts down to non-technical stakeholders, sharing documentation around the business, and participating in meetings has been a big help to this.
This was my first experience within the industry, working a full time job. Over that time you'll just naturally get to know people better and become more comfortable with talking to people.
I believe this may differ based on the person; I was already technically proficient before starting so I already knew the fundamentals - however I've worked with industry software and concepts that I otherwise would not have done if it wasn't for this placement. My team mates were more than happy to pair up, share knowledge and get me up-to-date with these things.
However, if you are someone without that much technical knowledge, there is only so much training available - there are some courses that are paid for, however I can't comment in detail around this as I already had plenty of technical experience.

Industrial Placements (IPs) are treated very well here, they are introduced to how things work through workshops and general meetings when first joining.
There are plenty of ex-IP students who have found a place back at Holiday Extras as well! So people can relate to you - I found plenty of support available when I needed it. The company hires in IPs each year, so it is common for other engineers to have mentored previous students.

Overall, it's quite a happy place! The office is in a beautiful area with the Kent countryside visible from your desk, and with the extended wifi you can even work outside (if the weather permits)!
People are very upbeat and this place is certainly not your typical office environment. It is relatively casual and everyone is very accommodating.

If you couldn't tell already from my previous comments, I enjoyed my placement so much! There are plenty of opportunities here, and it's very easy to make good friends here - it isn't difficult to find your people here.
I expected my placement year to mainly revolve around putting my head down and spending weeks at a time just programming, however it is much more than that. There's always events going on and volunteering opportunities to switch it up and do some work outside the office. I helped host a hackathon at a university for HX.

Yes