Graduate Software Engineer Review

I am a programmer and get to work on a variety of different platforms, e.g. mobile, backend, frontend. I get given tickets to work on and pair with other developers to produce code. I mostly write Kotlin now, but have worked with JavaScript, Scala, Ruby, bash, jenkins and many others.

Yes, I used to be a Java developer and now I get to use Kotlin everyday. Which is much more useable and I've been on training courses and get lots of help and advice on how to architect Android apps. We get to go to conferences and learn about things we never use before.

It is very enjoyable. I got to move around different departments and get an insight into what it would be like for me to be a mobile developer or a frontend developer. I get to meet new people all the time and people are always willing to offer their help when I ask.

It is structured well so that we can experience different types of programming. We aren't really allowed to go into another team that does the same as the previous team we were in, unless there is a valid reason. It is strict in that you have to finish 2 years before they will let you become a normal software engineer.

We get a lot of opportunities to go on training courses and conferences that are relevant to what we are working on. Whenever we move teams we get a new team lead who will be responsible for us so we don't always have to wait for our grad scheme leader to be around when we need help.

This is kind of irrelevant to my grad scheme as I already have my degree. We are more working towards getting a more senior position. We get set objectives every time we join a new team so that we can make sure we are always stretching ourselves to learn more and work on more things.

Assuming in this context you mean my degree, it has been very helpful. It gave me the groundings I needed to be able to do this job. It wasn't extensive enough to cover some things like how Agile works etc. but it did give me some fundamental foundations of software development that I use everyday.

I get involved in a lot of outreach events, e.g. I am a STEM ambassador so I often make challenges for young people who come to the BBC to get them to problem solve and start thinking about Software Engineering as a career. I also do Code Club and whenever I do I get to take time out of work to go.

Yes

I get a lot of support whenever I ask for it. As a public company with a responsibility to its users, they are a great place to start your career. They offer lots of training and are really interested in your personal development. It isn't a dog-eat-dog world here, everyone wants you to succeed.

It isn't all about your hard skills, e.g. being able to say you know how to do JavaScript is useful for a frontend role, but you soft skills are equally as important. Show that you are able to listen to others and are genuinely interested in what they have to say. But also show an ability to think for yourself and get your point across.