EMEA Tax Accountant Review

I did not particularly enjoy my placement at Intel however this is more down to incompatibility on my part than a fault in the role. I would recommend living within Swindon for a role at Intel as they have a very large intern community which I would encourage you to be a part of with many events and socials. While I have found my placement to be rather trying the interactions with the other interns has been the best part and is something other companies don't offer. I feel if I had lived closer to work my opinion on it would be greatly improved.

The amount I felt valued varied depending on the circumstances, some weeks were excellent with a lot of support and positive feedback for good work. Some weeks however were more straining however as I was treat differently occasionally being the only team member to be referred to by last name only or being referred to as only the intern.

I had once a week 1:1 meetings with my supervisor, these were made more difficult by her time working in America as time zones and her busy schedule made talking to her more difficult. Contact was still regular and useful however. I also had once a month meetings with my official manager to discuss how I was getting on as well as another monthly meeting with the entire team.

One of the better parts of my placement was my workload as I had plenty I could be getting on with which was much better than some of the placements I have heard of where interns are just sitting around awaiting instructions. My role was in tax and as a result of the lack of crossover in knowledge between the tax types I was asked for help by both the CT and VAT teams, other teams also often emailed us with queries so I was always given multiple ad hock tasks on top of a set of monthly duties which I usually performed.

My tasks were mostly excel based and basic work performed in support of other people's roles as opposed to taking the lead on tasks myself, this is to be expected from intern work as we lack the detailed knowledge developed over years to be an expert in our field. I should point out that while most of my work is basic it is important as it is needed for that other more technical work which builds off of it, in that sense I have responsibility.

My placement has had extremely little to do with my accounting degree as the above shows, my tasks were very generic and had not too much to do with accounting. My overall experience of working in an office, communicating with co- workers and performing what tasks I did have should serve me well in the future however. Some of my tasks, my non regular project work, did give me some insight into accounting so, while they do not apply to my particular degree and won't help me it could come in useful for a future career.

The general atmosphere was rather good throughout the office, the floors were set up differently so it varied but most floors had a very open floor plan which helped greatly. Employees of all levels were encouraged to walk around and talk to people if we needed anything from them which was much more personal method than an email. This resulted in a more familiar feeling within the office which helped the atmosphere greatly.

One of the stronger aspects of the placement was that it is 13 months long as opposed to 12, this meant that for the first month of the placement the old student was still here and for the last month I teach the new intern. As a result this means that the placement has a very good structure as you are not dropped into the office with no idea what you are meant to do, you spend a month being taught.

The company were willing to invest in your learning to an extent, they would allow you to take courses to improve your own abilities, for example I was offered a course to improve my public speech. some course were naturally not included however, expensive courses were not included as many interns will not be returning for whatever reason and as a result Intel would not see a return on their investment. Personal growth is promoted through employees and we are encouraged to teach each other about our areas of knowledge when we can.

Not particularly high, if you can get in Intel is a good place to work but the ratio of Interns to people who come back as graduates is very low, as such an individual intern's prospects are low. However the fact that some interns do come back indicates that an intern who wishes to come back and is willing to try to impress can do so.

Absolutely, the interns arrange many activities, both alcoholic and non- alcoholic, to spend time on outside of work as well as organise group chats to provide a chance for less official socialising. Swindon has cinemas, laser quest and bars to hang out in within free time. Intel itself also arrange social activities for employees at large and as a result there multiple things you can do. The large intern community results in always having someone you know to spend time with.

This question is not particularly relevant to me as I commuted into work from Bath, therefore my cost of living is mostly comprised of my living cost in Bath and commuting with me rarely spending money in Swindon. For the most part though based off of the other interns there is a relatively low cost of living within Swindon and this, combined with extremely low travel costs, should leave you with disposable income.

Again the question isn't really geared towards me, however the other interns seem to be extremely happy with the nightlife. Swindon is more geared towards pubs than clubs but that is not necessarily a bad thing, the large intern community allows for most nights out to be energetic no matter where you go.

There are plenty of chances to get involved in activities outside of work as Intel has intern social secretaries who you elect to plan out alcoholic and non-alcoholic events for the group to take part in. Intel at large also arrange social events such as go karting and alcohol tasting. The large community of interns also means that in free time if you just want to hang out you should have no shortage of people to spend time with.