EMEA BMG Pricing Analyst Review

I really enjoyed my placement year, there were always social aspects to get involved with on a regular basis, as well as a constant opportunities to get involved with within work. There are so many different roles within BMG, so it made it easy to be able to get involved with another team, which made it great to know that you could change your initial role if you weren't enjoying your current role.

The way that Intel's culture is, ensures that you're felt and treated like an equal at all times. I never felt under valued by anyone, and you're rewarded if you do something above and beyond, therefore making you feel really valued whenever you do something really well. You do quite a lot of social events such as volunteering's and 'blue sky days' where you do an activity with your whole team, so it's really easy to get to know everyone, so you become more like friends that colleagues.

I was given continuous support throughout my whole placement. I was given a 'buddy' at the beginning of the year, where I have weekly meetings with them to ensure that I was up to date with everything, and given guidance where need be. In addition, I had bi-weekly meeting with my manager to ensure that everything was going okay. Therefore, the level of support at Intel is continuous and every is more than happy to help you out.

This could range from week to week, depending on what stage in the quarter it is, and also what projects that you've taken on. I would always be really busy as when I would hit a quiet period, I would ask around my colleagues if they needed help with anything and if they had anything that I could get involved with.

I was given a lot of responsibility. This isn't one of those placement where you make coffee for someone, or photo copy papers.. the role is a real job, and if I wasn't here to do it then there would be gaps in the business. The amount of responsibility increases throughout the year, depending on how well that the current work load is going, but generally the level of responsibility and accountability is pretty high. So it sets you up perfectly for when becoming a graduate and you'll have a massive load of responsibility.

The immense amount of skills that I have developed with being on placement will help me when going back for my final year so much, I have improved my presenting skills, communication, team work etc. so these will be so valuable when I go back to complete final year e.g. presentations, and just generally being able to balance my work, and able to prioritise my work load.

The atmosphere in the office was really relaxed. This helped by the fact that the dress code was really relaxed too, especially with the 'dress down Fridays'. You're able to go for coffee breaks whenever you feel like it, and there's no harsh pressure on sitting at your desk for the whole 8 hours of the day. There's a good amount of social events that you're team, and also the intern's get up too, so it makes for a friendlier environment.

The whole internship is really well organised, there's a 5 week handover period with the intern that you're taking over from - so this ensures that you know exactly what you're going to do. There's a bunch of training organised for you when you start, and you're also allocated a 'on the job coach/ buddy' who helps you throughout the year.

In the 5 week handover period, there's loads of company and product training that everyone is required to go to. There is also loads of adhoc training that is available to anyone, such as business acumen, presentation training and others. So Intel are continuously offering training to everyone to help them grow throughout their time at the company.

When working in the BMG (operations) team, there are a few spaces open for interns to come back as graduates. So this makes is really appealing as you don't have to apply for the job, they will offer it to you if they think that you're a god fit for the company. There's a good chance of promotions pretty quickly, so coming back as a graduate is really appealing.

Yeah - there's a really good social scene! There's a sports and social club specific for the interns, so they arrange nights out most Thursdays, a long with sporadic trips throughout the year! Also, theres a sports and social club for the site wide team, so there's always loads of things that you can get involved with. Individual teams also will get involved with team events, so you can get to know your team even better. The whole of operations are a pretty socialable bunch, so there's always something going on!

Pretty cheap - Swindon is a pretty cheap area to live in, especially if you come from Bristol or London is considerably cheaper! You're looking at around £300-£350 for rent and bills per month if you can find yourself shared accommodation. Socialising too, it's pretty cheap. Everything is in one place so there's no transport costs, and you're not paying London prices for a pint!

Night life is pretty average, there's a few bars and pubs, enough to keep you going. But as there is no university around the area, there's no big night clubs nor the busyness of a student nightlife area. Given this, as there are so many interns at Intel, if you all go out in a big crowd it doesn't really matter who else is around, a night is what you make it!

Yeah - there were loads of opportunities. There are many sport clubs that you can get involved with such as Netball, Football, Badminton, Go Karting etc. - so there's also a lot to do outside of your working time. There were also loads of volunteering that you can get involved with.