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Programming Intern – ZigZag Education (Bristol City)
Role Overview
Are you a university student or recent graduate looking to gain hands-on, real-world software development experience? ZigZag Education is hiring a Programming Intern to join their collaborative IT team in Bristol. In this practical role, you will work on a series of development mini-projects—expanding features on existing internal software, debugging legacy systems, and providing occasional technical support.
Key Responsibilities
- System Feature Enhancements: Develop and integrate small, high-value functional updates into existing internal and customer-facing web applications.
- Legacy Code Maintenance & Bug Fixing: Identify, troubleshoot, and resolve bugs across legacy PHP and SQL systems to maintain software reliability.
- Agile Collaboration: Participate in team workflows using Agile practices, including Mini-Scrums for sprint management and Kanban tracking via GitLab.
- Technical Support: Assist with general technical support and system troubleshooting as needed to keep office operations running smoothly.
Candidate Profile & Qualifications
- Target Audience: Current university computer science/software engineering students or recent graduates seeking a placement or flexible internship.
- Core Languages & Tech: Fundamental knowledge of PHP, SQL, HTML, CSS, and JavaScript.
- Work Availability: Full-time or part-time (minimum 16 hours per week during standard office hours).
- Soft Skills: Problem-solving mindset, eager to learn legacy and modern codebases, and a collaborative “pitch-in” attitude toward IT support.
About Us
ZigZag Education is a leading educational publisher based in Bristol, creating high-quality teaching resources for secondary schools and colleges across the UK. Operating as a tight-knit, collaborative organization, ZigZag offers early-career developers direct exposure to full-stack systems, modern workflow methodologies, and a supportive team structure.
Website Link: https://zigzageducation.co.uk/
Benefits of This Role
- Flexible Contracts & Hours: Flexible contract durations designed to fit around academic schedules, part-time setups (minimum 16 hrs/week), or full-time placements.
- Hands-On Agile Practice: Practical experience working with Agile methodologies, Mini-Scrums, Sprints, and GitLab Kanban task boards.
- Broad Operational Exposure: Opportunity to work across multiple departments and see the immediate impact of your code on real business software.
- Long-Term Career Potential: Strong possibility of extending your position into a long-term or permanent software engineering role upon successful completion.
Salary Insight
- Pay Structure: Fully paid internship/placement with hourly or pro-rated salary rates aligned with standard UK entry-level developer and graduate intern compensation.
Career Guide Tips for Aspiring Developers
- Embrace Legacy Code: Reading, debugging, and improving existing code (like legacy PHP) is one of the most valuable, real-world software engineering skills you can build.
- Learn Version Control & Project Boards: Become comfortable with Git workflows and task tracking systems like GitLab or GitHub—it accelerates your onboarding into any software team.
- Practice Full-Stack Connections: Understanding how backend databases (SQL) connect to backend logic (PHP) and frontend displays (HTML/CSS/JS) will make your bug fixes significantly faster.
How to Prepare a CV for This Position
- Highlight Technical Projects: Include university coursework, personal coding repositories (GitHub links), or class projects that feature PHP, JavaScript, and database management.
- Detail Problem-Solving Achievements: Mention specific instances where you successfully debugged code, optimized a database query, or built a web feature.
- Showcase Adaptability: Emphasize your willingness to handle technical support tasks alongside core software development duties.
How to Prepare for an Interview
- Brush Up on Web Development Basics: Review core PHP concepts, basic SQL syntax (JOINs, SELECTs, UPDATEs), and JavaScript/DOM manipulation fundamentals.
- Review Your Code Repositories: Be ready to talk through a project you built, explaining your choice of architecture, challenges faced, and how you fixed bugs.
- Demonstrate Willingness to Learn: Show enthusiasm for reading documentation and tackling legacy systems with a positive attitude.
Potential Interview Questions
- Debugging & Logic: “Can you describe a challenging bug you encountered in a recent coding project and how you went about diagnosing and fixing it?”
- Database Management: “How would you connect a PHP script to a SQL database to safely query and retrieve data for a web page?”
- Agile & Task Prioritization: “How do you organize your tasks when balancing multiple minor feature updates alongside daily technical support requests?”
How to Apply
- Visit the official ZigZag Education Careers portal or local recruitment platforms.
- Search for “Programming Intern – Bristol City”.
- Submit your CV along with a cover letter detailing your programming experience, weekly availability (minimum 16 hours), and ideal contract duration.
Disclaimer
This summary is an independent document created for career guidance and informational purposes. Specific pay rates, working hours, and contract terms are managed directly by ZigZag Education and may be updated. Please refer to the official ZigZag Education careers listing for formal application guidelines.