Dec
10
2013

My placement experience

by Ben

In my two and a half years as a Software Developer at Codify, I have experienced a wide range of roles and responsibilities across the operations division of the business - starting in 2011 as a placement student in the Support team, before returning to university and continuing part-time at Codify as a developer for internal business systems and finally transitioning to the Projects team earlier this year. Throughout my time at the company, I have gained a variety of skills and experience which have been beneficial to my academic studies and future career.

When I first started my placement in the Support Team, my job was to assist customers with queries, software defects and minor changes. I was responsible for the entire lifecycle of my support calls, from initially receiving emails and telephone calls reporting issues, through development and testing of fixes and finally deploying the updated software to the customer’s live system. Despite being a student, my responsibilities were exactly the same as any other developer on the team and I found this to be both a fantastic learning opportunity and a highly rewarding job.

During my placement, I learned a great deal about how a software company operates and the different roles therein. My job allowed me to learn many technologies, industry best practices and greatly improve my knowledge of the C# language and .NET framework. I also feel that my placement was invaluable in improving my communication and time management skills, as keeping customers informed and delivering solutions in a timely manner are central to the daily running of the Support Team.

Having previously completed a placement through the Year in Industry scheme, I was already aware of the value that a good placement can provide to both the employing company and especially the placement student. My placement year at Codify was especially valuable as it not only provided me with real work experience directly relevant to my degree, but also led to my continued employment with the company throughout my remaining time at university and hopefully for some time after!

For me, making the most of a placement year comes down to a few simple steps:

  • Get involved - try everything and make the most of the experience.
  • Work hard - for many companies providing a placement, it is part of a long term recruitment plan and making a good impression early on could lead to future opportunities.
  • Socialise and ask questions - make the most of being surrounded by experienced people and take every chance to learn from them.
  • Most importantly - enjoy it!

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