Member Article

Opportunities for savvy students and plucky postgrads

The 2016 graduate and internship programmes at one of the UK’s leading software consultancies are now open to applicants.

In August this year, Scott Logic, a bespoke software development consultancy with four city centre offices around the UK, welcomed a record number of new graduates after sifting through hundreds of applications, and the last of its summer interns has now returned to their studies.

Over the next couple of weeks the company will meet potential new recruits at a series of 16 graduate job fairs and conferences taking place across the country, in the hope of finding software’s stars of the future to join its ranks, both as interns and permanent staff members.

Recruitment Manager John Wright said: “Our 2015 graduate programme was hugely popular, and we made a record 19 high-calibre appointments, including three former interns. Final year students and postgraduates alike are welcome to apply to join next year’s graduate intakes, but students at earlier stages of their degree can also benefit from our internship.

“It’s become a valuable part of what we offer, so much so that a vast number of our interns choose to return to us full-time after they graduate.”

Scott Logic’s internship is a paid placement of around 12 weeks, with positions available for next summer at the company’s offices in Newcastle upon Tyne, Edinburgh and Bristol. John added: “The internship gives students in the penultimate year of their degree a chance to sample a real-world working environment in their chosen field.

“It acts as a structured stepping stone into a graduate role, as our experienced mentors supervise interns as they complete a challenging, but extremely rewarding software project.”

Mila Kirova, 23, is a computer science graduate who completed a Scott Logic internship in 2014, and has since joined the organisation’s Edinburgh office as a graduate developer. She said: “The internship gave me a wonderful opportunity to explore a real-world working environment and understand how my knowledge from university applies to large-scale projects.

“Even though software development was entirely new to me, and could prove a challenge at times, I learned so much about it and enjoyed the placement a lot. All of my colleagues were extremely helpful and friendly; I was happy to be part of a professional and pleasant working environment, and didn’t have to think twice about applying to return as a graduate.”

Chris Price is now a technical architect at Scott Logic’s Newcastle office, having risen the ranks from his days as an intern in 2006. He joined as a full-time graduate developer in 2007 after completing a degree in electronic and computer engineering. He added: ““Starting as an intern was great as I was being paid to do the bits of my degree that I particularly enjoyed, and the graduate programme was a natural progression from university. My favourite thing about the job is the technical freedom I am given. You’re encouraged to explore and learn new things here.”

As well as plenty of work, including an introduction to a raft of software development tools and the challenge of creating their first application for the company, Scott Logic’s graduates, who start in two batches in February and August each calendar year, enjoy a packed diary of induction activities. This helps them get to know their new colleagues before getting ready to gain real commercial experience.

Recruitment Manager John Wright concluded: “The graduate scheme is vital to our strategic growth as a company, and plenty of people join who haven’t started their relationship with us as interns. We’re always on the lookout for technically gifted problem solvers to join us at all levels, so we hope to receive even more applications, for both programmes, than we did last year.”

Scott Logic’s graduate roles for 2016 include those in development, testing and User Experience (UX) design. For more information on Scott Logic and its services, visit scottlogic.com.

ENDS

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Jule Wilson .