An Honest Review of Codeweavers Work Experience 

Hello, my name is Jack. I'm 15 and currently studying in Staffordshire, England, for a GCSE in Computer Science. I recently participated in a week of work experience at Codeweavers, which was organised through my school.

The thought of being in an office was quite daunting at first, as I sometimes find new places and routine changes overwhelming. I quickly realised I didn't need to worry, though, as everyone I met on my first day was friendly and quick to put me at ease. 

The first significant change for me was having to get up earlier. Codeweavers is a 15-mile drive from home, much further and longer than my usual one-mile walk to school. I also found the longer day a shock. Where I would usually finish school at 15:10, I was in the office until 17:30, which made me a lot more tired than I expected to be after getting home. 

On day one, I was given a full induction and the opportunity to find out what Codeweavers are really about. I took a tour of the building and learned what facilities were available. I was particularly fond of the free snacks provided for staff! I delved into an overview of the company's history before being introduced to a 'hire purchase calculation' with Neil Kidd, the Academy Lead, who helped me write some Python code to replicate it. 

On day two, I was primarily engaged with support tasks, closely collaborating with Tom Cooke, Manager of Customer Care—although the entire support team was more than happy to offer their assistance. I relished the chance to troubleshoot problems and enhance my understanding of Codeweavers and technical skills. To help with my learning, I was encouraged to develop my own finance website using the same calculator from my first day. 

Day three saw me fully immersed in website development, revelling in the fact that I had a singular focus, which, being autistic, appealed to me! 

Day four presented the opportunity for independent work as Tom was off. I was left with a clear list of expectations, which helped me to stay on task. I had a productive telephone call with Leigh Wilson, where we discussed website coding and our shared passion for cars and bikes. I enjoyed working through my issues with Leigh: he guided me through areas of code I struggled with without making me feel stupid. 

On day five, Codeweavers held a Business Update. These happen throughout the year and are an opportunity for staff to see how the business is performing, ask questions about the future, and generally catch up with each other. Little work is completed at a business update, and I won't lie when I say that lots of the issues being discussed were utterly alien to me, so I continued to work on my finance website some more. However, it was a brilliant day to end my work experience. I enjoyed the camaraderie of a team quiz where we placed fifth (of fourteen!) before some socialising over pizza. 

Overall, I've been amazed at what I witnessed during my work experience. Codeweavers was a brilliant experience for me, and I'd love to return someday. Office life is very different from school, although I'm told that Codeweavers is not an ordinary office. 

I want to thank everyone who helped me during my week, but in particular, Neil, Tom and Leigh, who really helped me and contributed to creating lots of fond memories. 

 A note from our team

We had the pleasure of welcoming Jack, a work experience student, to our support team at Codeweavers. Jack's enthusiasm and confidence were evident from the start as he actively engaged in tasks and asked insightful questions. In a short period, he exceeded our expectations by quickly learning, applying new knowledge, and embracing feedback. Jack truly embodied the values we hold dear at Codeweavers, and it was a joy to have him with us. We are excited to see where his journey takes him and wish him all the best for the future! Good luck, Jack! - Tom Cooke, Manager, Customer Care

I'd like to start by stating that working with Jack was an absolute delight. While building his custom dealership website, he really took onboard my explanations of the Codeweavers API and the overall process of how an API works in relation to his code. It honestly felt like I was working alongside a seasoned colleague as we chatted freely, shared ideas and iterated on the problems we encountered until they were resolved as I would with anybody else on the team. From the time I have spent with Jack, I absolutely believe he has a bright future ahead of him; his ability to problem solve logically with a cool head will take him as far as he dares to go! It's truly an exciting thought, thinking of where the future will take him. - Leigh Wilson, Technical Customer Support Analyst

Note: At this time (July 2024), due to demand and capacity, Codeweavers are not accepting applications for work experience.

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