Conversation with a Placement Student - Jay
4 min read
The world of digital continues to evolve, and as it does it brings new challenges and opportunities for the next wave of tech talent! As part of our long running student placement programme with Bournemouth University, each year we welcome Software Engineering placement students to work and learn with us, developing their skills in the real world of work.
We sat down with student Jay Le-Moigne as they come to the end of their 2025/2026 placement for a quick interview to discuss what it’s like to work on placement with Cold Banana, and what advice they have for the new students who’ve joined us for the 2026/2027 academic year!
What does your typical work day look like at Cold Banana?
"A typical day involves working closely with Project Managers to work out what the priority dev task is for the day. This includes fixing bugs, adding new features, deploying code, and towards the end of my placement, helping new placement students settle into the team. Throughout my development work, my main focus has always been on improving the user experience."
How do you prioritise your workload when you have multiple tasks which need to be completed by the end of the day?
"I usually follow the priority status assigned to each ticket and discuss this with the Project Manager to decide which task to start with. I also like to group together smaller tasks, especially when they're related to the same page on a website, as it helps me work more efficiently. Listening to music also helps me stay focused. My go to focus music is 80s rock, with Fleetwood Mac, Stevie Nicks, and Billy Joel being some of my favourites."
What is the most challenging part of your job?
"One of the biggest challenges is fixing and maintaining legacy code. Older or inherited projects often uses different coding practices, so you need to adapt to workflows that can be very different from the Cold Banana way of working. Another challenge is keeping code compatible across older browsers. Even with modern browsers, Google Chrome and Firefox can behave very differently, so we often need to find workarounds to bugs/issues to make sure everything works as expected."
At Cold Banana, we value work culture and a work-life balance. What is your favourite thing about working here?
"My favourite thing about working at Cold Banana is being surrounded by such friendly, helpful, and involved colleagues. Team lunches are always lively and fun, and everyone is happy to offer development advice whenever you get stuck on a problem. Having that level of support from the team is something I really appreciate."
Do you have any advice for someone looking to start a web development placement?
"It depends where you are in your development journey. If you're just starting out, I'd recommend learning the basics like HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. For backend development, learning a language like C# and practicing object oriented programming and programming principles will give you a great foundation."
"If you're a little more advanced, it's worth exploring frameworks like React and Vue, or gaining experience with a Content Management System like Umbraco or Sitecore. If you're trying to break into the industry, having a GitHub profile is really helpful because it demonstrates the frequency and quality of your work. A personal website portfolio is also a BRILLIANT way to show off your technical ability while highlighting your skills!"
Cold Banana's values are Partnership, Opportunities, Positivity and Togetherness. How do you feel you embody these values?
"I had the opportunity to represent Cold Banana at careers fairs and help future placement students during their onboarding, supporting them as they become familiar with the technology stack we use. I always try to be friendly and approachable, making myself available to other developers while also being open to feedback on my own development work. I'm also happy to help fellow developers whenever they need support!"
Interested in a Career in Tech?
If you're interested in starting a career with Cold Banana, head over to our careers page to check what positions we have available or email us at: careers@coldbanana.com
