Chip Implementation Engineer Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement due to the involvement I found in the projects that were being carried out during my time at Intel. Facing a wide variety of difficult situations has allowed me to improve myself and has prepared me better for the future. Along with the daily work, we are also encouraged here to participate in volunteering services which are well worth the time.

Being surrounded by colleagues having experiences greater than 20 years or so would be intimidating for a fresh engineer, but at Intel what we focus on the most is equality. Hence, my colleagues at Intel have treated me no less than an experienced engineer such as them. They have provided constructive feedback on all my work and had taken upon themselves to improve me and recognize my work. You don’t feel like you are at work, it is very comfortable working in such a connected environment.

At Intel each intern is assigned a personal mentor who is responsible for all our work and training. Also it is common practice for the intern to be seated closer to his/her mentor, for effective communication. I have personally had to face a few problems during work and I would just freely go over to my mentor and ask him, if he had the time right now or later to help me out. My mentor has always come around to explain me the things I was stuck on and not in a brief manner, he would always go in depth and make me understand thoroughly. I was very glad to have a mentor at Intel, as it was a great support and I was satisfied to have guidance by someone so experienced.

Even interns are considered as full time employees here and only first month or so is the training. After the first two months you are made part of the projects the team is working on and become yet another integral part of it. Depending on the projects and work on an average you always have something to do. There are days where you will be rushing to meet deadlines and some days when you can concentrate on your individual training. But one important thing to mention is even as an intern your contributions have weight age and impact on the entire team. Furthermore, there a very good work life balance, as if there isn’t much work available , you can focus on volunteering through Intel or participate in other intern societies.

Over here at Intel you feel as if you are an important part of the team, by contributing to the projects which might hit the market or speaking with different people all over the globe or provide training to other groups. One thing I have definitely learnt from my placement is prioritizing along with time management that is when given many responsibilities how to produce the most efficient output in the least amount of time. Moreover, the best part of the internship is collaborating with different teams and working towards to the same goal using each other expertise. Also, any work we do will have to be presented to our managers and supervisors on a monthly basis and any extra-ordinary work will be shown to the team and will be recognized.

In my opinion doing a placement and getting first-hand experience of how things work in the industry would make every student realize the difference between what they study at university and how it will be used in a job. According to me I have developed a range or technical to soft skills during the 13 month placement, while the technical will immensely help in my modules for third and soft skills will compliment my technical skills in terms of presentations and dealing with people or tackling tough situations. One last thing I would mention is that after getting that wide perspective of things during the placement, it becomes clearer to oneself about what career path or subject area he/she wants to follow in the future, also allowing you to choose a third year project according to the work carried out during the placement.

The best way to describe the atmosphere would be exciting and challenging. Depending on the work load, either everyone is busy carrying out their tasks or helping each other. However, I would say the office atmosphere was very calm and peaceful along with everyone having a very relaxed attitude at work. Even the work timings were flexible and we would have team bonding lunches or movie days.

Being assigned a mentor to take care of all your training throughout the internship is a great benefit. As soon as you start the previous intern along with your mentor have created an elaborate plan or program for you to follow. It includes learning outcomes, skills to develop and technical areas where development will aid the team and allow us to use them at university or other jobs.

The managers here are very co-operative and want everyone to develop through training or self-learning. They are always open to options and if need be, all you have to do is come up with a proposal for the requirement of the training and how it may benefit your work and now by hook or crook your manager would find something for you. Along with that you also have your mentor or other colleagues, whose help is available whenever needed. I have personally had training sessions worth hours with my team members. Lastly, in my case our manager also organized programming training with other companies, with them coming to Intel and personally providing us with the knowledge.

Working in an international company with a long history of achievement would motivate any individual to come back to it. Especially getting close exposure of the work done by your colleagues who are more experienced and knowing the nature of the work they do is worthwhile. Furthermore, the management here is quite helpful and the prospects of you moving up the ladder are good considering your performance of course.

Having other 50 people like yourself in the same company does definitely make your work life more fun. Our Intel site includes a very entertaining games room which provides a great chance at socializing and enjoying the free time. Along with that we also have 5-6 intern committees /societies in which it is encouraged to take part in. These can be the more entertaining side of the work you do every day.

Most of you won’t have ever heard of Swindon, but I will assure you it is a full-fledged city. Although it is a small city but has a lot to offer, many activities and shopping areas. As an intern group we had carried out tons of activities throughout Swindon, from laser tag to trampolining, cinema, skydiving, ice skating, rock climbing and many more. And trust me, Swindon is a very cheap place in terms of both food and entertainment.

We have intern societies that arrange for us something exciting every Thursday night, this could range from pub quizzes, to bingo and club night outs. The clubs in Swindon are either free or very cheap, with a huge population making their way to the clubs , there are more chances of networking and meeting new people.

Apart from the actual work, the other intern societies come into play. We have Charity societies organizing fun activities to take part in for raising money and donating to charities across Swindon. Also we have some technically oriented societies which focuses on volunteering for STEM and providing help to local Schools in regards to technology. Apart from these we have other activities that Intel as a company is a partner to, like Go4Set or EES programs for children.