Geographical Business Analyst Review

I have highly enjoyed my internship so far at Intel, I was nervous before I started however once I had begun my placement and realised how many other interns there were and how enjoyable the placement is it has helped me massively in order to grow in confidence and also create a global corporate network. I would love to work with Intel again as they have an incredible scheme for Interns that provides interns with a view of the corporate world with a hands-on connection.

My team is the backbone of the work I do here at Intel, without my team I wouldn’t have had the chance to grow as an individual and also grow within Intel. I have been able to take on challenges and also provide solutions to inefficiencies that other team members were having, which has helped me greatly in expanding my network.

I development a very strong relationship with my manager due to personal challenges during the year. I had weekly 1:1’s which meant my manager was always up to date with the work I was doing and the problems I was facing. I found that being open with my manager made my role/job easier and made me work harder as I knew somebody was dependent upon the work I did.

During my time at Intel I was extremely busy, I always had ad-hoc tasks as well as the ones I performed daily. This meant that my time at Intel has flown by and has provided me with a network of people. As I worked within 2 BU’s I have been able to be busy with different people and in different environments.

As an Intern I was treated as a full time employee, I made my own decisions and these decisions could affect the company’s revenue. I was given more responsibility that expected and with that responsibility came an underlying confidence. This confidence provided me with the will to be able to perform and adapt to the challenges I faced.

The skills I learnt link directly to my degree. I now have experience with forecasting and how detailed and how much analytics go into it, I now know how to use certain computer programmes that will help with my degree, and I also now know how to perform under pressure and manage my time, which will help me to complete work in time for the deadlines at university.

The atmosphere in the office is a friendly ‘banter’ kind of environment, everybody is always making fun out of each other and you can always hear laughter. There are rooms to book out for private conversations but also communal areas. There is always somebody to talk too or somebody to go get a coffee with!

The placement scheme at intel is set up perfectly, there is a large batch of interns that come in on a yearly basis with a 5 week ‘handover’ period at the start. This means there are 120 interns in the office all learning from each other – this made the start of intel incredible and the last 5 weeks will be the same. This means that you know your job very well by the time you are on your own as there is somebody there to ask questions too. There is always a management employee who knows what is going on with the inter scheme and the intern scheme at Intel is a very cemented process that Intel themselves are very proud of.

The company provides a large amount of vital trainings that allow you to complete your jobs. Then throughout the year there are ‘catch up’ trainings and also optional trainings – such as creativity and innovation. Intel also has an incredible University site, which has a lot of trainings that you can access whenever you need that are also available to all Intel employees. There is also a training bulletin that allows you to see what trainings are coming up and how many spaces are left.

Future employment prospects at intel are extremely appealing, they provide an incredible Grad Scheme which allows the student to come back into either a different or the same job dependent upon your personal opinion. Intel also provide the students with help with dissertations and also any placement work that needs completing. Grads are taken on as full time employees and are given the respect of people that have been here for years. Making the option extremely welcoming.

The Social scene is incredible, there are all sorts of committes here at Intel. Such as Intel Publishing – which provide news updates, year books, videos and memorabilia, Interr Sports and Social, which plans all the events going on with the interns, Inten Charity – who work with local charitys to provide events to raise money and help others, Intel Inspire – which is a computer/engineering based group, Intel Internet Security – which works with young students to make them aware of the dangers of the internet, and also STAR – Student Take Action for Refugees. All these committees make it extremely easy to get involved and feel included in the group.

Swindon is quite a cheap place to live, everything is accessible and the living costs are below average. Swindon has access to London on the M4 and also the train line which are both cheap and easy options to get into the Capital for less than £20. Socialising is cheap – if you know the spots to go to! There are lots of incredible small restaurants that have offers throughout the week and also provide an incredible meal to fill up a working student!

The nightlife in Swindon is pretty standard. There is a street that has a lot of lovely bars and restaurants but there is only 1 night club – which opened the year I joined Intel. The nightlife is mainly based around the people you are with. As there are over 60 interns it is the interns that make the evening, rather than the place.

Intel offers lots of activities, such as a karting club and external events. However the only activities there really are include mini golf, going to the gym and shopping at the Designer outlet. There are charity groups to be involved in and also running clubs, it is all about the research you do and the activities you are interested in.