Software Development Student Placements: Kickstart your career
Fivium is a nimble software company made up of industry-leading experts, driving the digital transformation of the public sector. We’re passionate about building services that solve real problems.
We work with a huge range of public sector organisations, from large government departments like the Ministry of Defence, HM Treasury, and the Department for Work and Pensions, to police forces and local councils.
Our projects include the Adoption Support Fund, the UK Energy Portal, and the UK’s export licensing service. We also develop eCase, our correspondence handling product, which is used by over a dozen major government organisations to process FOI requests, parliamentary questions and more.
About the placement scheme
We’re looking for placement students who share our passion for building web-based services that are usable, accessible and secure. You’ll quickly get stuck in as part of a close-knit cross-functional team which includes developers, UX designers, user researchers and project managers. You’ll engage with our customers to build products and features that meet their needs, and influence the direction of both technical and UX design.
Our placement scheme has been running for over 10 years, and many of our students come back to work for us after they’ve graduated. You’ll be supported by a dedicated mentor who’ll help and advise you throughout the year. Our comprehensive training programme will get you up to speed on our tech stack, which includes Java (Spring Boot, Play), JavaScript (Vue.js, ES6), SQL, HTML, CSS/Sass, Docker and Oracle Database.
Requirements
We’re not looking for experience with particular programming languages; we’re interested in general programming skill, strong attention to detail, problem solving ability and an eye for building usable software. Experience with web technologies and SQL is a plus.
You must be a student eligible for a one-year industrial placement as part of your course, and predicted at least a 2:1 honours degree in Computer Science or an equivalent IT-related discipline. You’ll need to pass a BPSS security check when you join us. All applicants will need to demonstrate eligibility to work in the UK for the duration of the placement year during the application process. Unfortunately, we're not able to sponsor applicants without the right to work in the UK for the duration of the placement year.
Our environment and culture
We’re a small but growing company of around 70 people. Our bright, modern office in the heart of the West End is surrounded by some of London’s best bars, restaurants, theatres and cinemas, and we make the most of it with monthly social events like go-karting, urban golf, escape rooms and theatre trips, all paid for by the company. We have a large kitchen stocked with fresh fruit and soft drinks, and a free bar on Tuesday and Thursday nights. We have a casual dress code and flexible working hours.
Our culture is open, supportive and collaborative. Many of us also did placements at Fivium when we were students, so we know the process well, and the whole team is on hand to guide you and help you get the most out of your year with us. You’ll also be able to take part in our annual Hack Day, which gives everyone in the company the chance to experiment with new ideas and technologies and compete for great prizes.
We’re committed to being a company with diverse, motivated staff and an environment which is free from discrimination. Our aim is for our workforce to be truly representative of our society and for every employee to feel valued and respected. We’ve achieved Investors in People Gold, which is a testament to our commitment to being a great place to work and to our excellent team, and we’re proud supporters of the Time to Change campaign to end mental health discrimination.
Salary and benefits
We offer a salary of £27,000 for placement students and excellent benefits including 28 days’ leave per year (including bank holidays), Simplyhealth cover, interest-free season ticket loans and a Cycle2Work scheme.
How to apply
Please email your CV (2-3 pages A4) as a PDF to careers@fivium.co.uk with “Placement” in the subject line by 11:59pm on 3 November 2024. There’s no need to include a cover letter, but we’d love to see any university or personal projects you can show us - for example on GitHub, CodePen, a personal website or attached as a zip file (though please don’t include executable files like .exes or .jars - they won’t get through). We’re looking for evidence of your passion for programming, along with a clear history of teamwork and solving real problems. It’s also useful if you include your first year marks.
We’ll do short one-to-one interviews the week after applications close, then panel interviews a couple of weeks later. One-to-one interviews will be take place remotely, with panel interviews at our offices in central London.
