It was a decision I made before even coming to University. Like most students, I had no idea exactly what I wanted to do after uni and so I wanted to gain an understanding of what kind of career paths there were within technology and what the day-to-day working life would be like whilst having the protection of being an intern and only working for a year if I didn’t enjoy the job.

Google. I knew I wanted to work within the media industry and was interested to see if Disney did placements and so I just looked them up directly.

I worked within a software development team that built applications for Disney to use in-house. The main project I worked on was an application that delivered Disney content from the London offices to Europe, Middle East & Africa (EMEA). For this project, I was working directly with multiple directors to understand the needs of the system for their teams. I spent much of my time strategising with parts of the business as to how to make the most effective application and then delivering this back to software developers and working with them to support, deliver and manage the product.

I really enjoyed the culture of Disney. I was always happy to come into work because the teams I worked with were really friendly and relaxed and it was exciting to work with people globally, there was a large intern group that was quite social and the work-life balance was really important.

I think the most challenging aspect has been coming back to University after completing the Year in Industry. A lot of my friends have now graduated and have moved out of Sheffield, and it’s hard to readjust to student life after working for a year.

Learning the job and exactly what I would like to do after finishing University has been great, but my favourite parts have been all the surprising things I’ve learnt and experienced. Living in London wasn’t originally my plan, but I had so much fun living in a big city with a large group of interns to do things with. It also helped grow my confidence massively, along with learning to live independently on my own salary.

Any module that has involved Agile methodologies has been essential. Modules such as Introduction to Software Engineering or Software Hut has been helpful as I was using Kanban Boards, User Stories, Stand-Ups, Burndown Charts etc. everyday. Engineering You’re Hired was also helpful as I was working across many differently skilled teams to come to a solution.

I am looking to continue working within the media industry. Personally, after living in London for a year I also want to keep exploring so I am hoping to get a job in a different country for a bit.