Enigma Interactive are an award-winning specialist digital development agency based in Newcastle and London.
What placement roles do you offer to Computer Science Undergraduates?
We offer 12-month Developer placements to Computer Science and Software Engineering Graduates as part of their degree course.
What do students work on during their placement?
The work that our Placements do at Enigma will be varied, depending on the team and projects they are assigned to. This means, at times, it can be quite complex and require some level of R&D, whilst at other times, it may involve refining, maintenance and support.
Work can include:
- Implementation of front-end user interfaces and experience based on graphic designs
- Implementation of server-side logic and code based on technical / functional specification
- Design and configuration of data storage / database schemes
- Peer to peer testing and review of work delivered by teammates
- Client communications – including requirement gathering, involvement in weekly calls and Programme Board meetings
What are the key skills you’re looking for in students applying for placements?
For Enigma, placement students would be creative developers who have the following skills (or at least a selection of them)
- knowledge of object-oriented languages such as Java or C#
- Knowledge of front-end web technologies such as VUE, SASS or LESS
- Knowledge of web server technology such as Nginx or Apache
- Knowledge of database technology such as MySQL or Hibernate
However, having a positive attitude is key for our placements – those with the drive to learn new technologies and frameworks and the desire to contribute to a creative and collaborative multi-disciplined team are important.
We look for students, much like our other employees, who are passionate, not afraid to challenge, analytical and supportive.
In a nutshell, students with excellent coding and problem-solving abilities, a real passion for digital technology (specifically web development) and with an inquisitive mind would be the ideal candidates for a placement with us.
What support does Enigma Interactive offer for placement students?
Our Placements are treated like all our employees in that they are given a full induction when they first start, along with a period of on-boarding into their role, followed by continued support throughout their time with us, as and when required.
We integrate our Placements fully into their team, its projects and our business.
We appreciate that they are still students, and there will be gaps in knowledge and skillset, so we assign a ‘mentor’ who is there to answer any questions and provide support and guidance.
We know we have an obligation to support our Placements, not just as a means to ‘upskill’ them by providing technical knowledge and commercial insight, but to help them develop those all-important softer skills, as well as building their confidence and resilience.
We encourage our Placements to get fully involved with the vibrant social scene that Enigma offers. Activities include sports challenges, book club, Pilates sessions, pub lunches, plus a whole range of ad hoc evening activities such as axe throwing, crazy golf, cheese tasting and Escape Rooms, to name but a few. We’ve even had a visit from some birds of prey at our studio! This helps the students to fully integrate into our team and fosters a sense of belonging.
Being a Placement in a business is often a significant change for students – they are in a new commercial environment, with new challenges and new people. Given that, we are keen to support our Placements overall well-being and mental health – during their transition from student-life to the workplace, and throughout their time with us.
Have any of our students you’ve previously taken on placement been offered a role after graduation?
Yes – most definitely! Since we began taking placements, several of our Newcastle University students have been offered permanent Developer roles after Graduation.
Currently, we have three Developers on staff who started out as placements and another two who have been offered a full-time job when they graduate.
How can students find out about the placement vacancies you have available?
Each Autumn, we advertise our placements on the Newcastle University Careers site and also have the opportunity posted on the University Computing @ Newcastle: Employment and Enterprise blog.
We liaise with the Placement Co-ordinator to make sure that the opportunity is promoted and announced to all 2nd year students who may be interested.
Enigma also regularly attend the University Job Fairs where we promote our placements and any graduate opportunities that we have open.
Is there anything else you’d like to say?
Enigma has been offering placement opportunities to university students for over 20 years and the benefits to both the student and to our company cannot be overstated.
Placement students have brought Enigma talent, creativity, diversity and innovation. They have allowed us to expand our services, maintain the quality of what we build, commit to increased client work and hit deadlines, as well as contributing to overall business growth.
Enabling our placement students to grow and progress as developers is not just of benefit to Enigma and our clients, but by extension to the whole digital sector.
We want our students to thrive during their year with us – to really enjoy their time here, to gain exposure to a variety of technologies and to hone their skills (hard and soft) and, hopefully, return to us when they graduate.
