Resource Coordinator Review

In a place like Microsoft your placement is heavily dependent on what you do with it. If you wish to do your nine to five job you can but there are also multiple opportunities to stretch yourself and join other teams. This way I managed to feel valuable while being a part of my team and creating business impact while expending ideas and trying brand new concept on my stretch projects.

My direct manager was the loveliest person. We had weekly meetings to reassure my progress and for me to share my thoughts. This allowed me to be more motivated to further develop myself while at the same time creating a trust for me to communicate to her any problems I was facing.

I felt extremely supported by both Microsoft as a company and by my direct manager. There us a great environment for those who are early in careers, you are given great support and pushed to ask questions as people always tell you "there is no such thing as a silly question".

This depends heavily from team to team, my own perception and on the time of the year. Teams that are connect to mine can suddenly get extremely busy or quiet which both can affect my workload. The time of the year is also key as lows and peaks are to be expected (around the holidays etc...) also what I thought was a lot of work at the beginning of the year by the time I was finished I could see those had been very simple tasks. Overall, I was kept busy even in slower times you can find something extra do to or support someone else.

Once again, this depends on your perception throughout the year, what was a lot of responsibility at the beginning you can tell by the end of the year it was a simple task. Personally, I was always kept busy. Actually, on my first month I thought it was crazy how much the team trusted me and assigned me tasks that had real business impact but as time goes by you realise that that is the only way to grow into the role.

I believe I developed multiple skills throughout my year at Microsoft, some of these I learnt and developed while in my placement, but the others were simply further developed during the year. If I were to say one more than the others it would be time management skills. Coming from university into the work life, lot of free time is suddenly taken out of your schedule and you are then met with strict deadlines if you do not learn to manage your time and yourself you would be in big trouble.

No matter the team you are in the Microsoft offices give a great environment to work in. From quiet spaces to areas with a pool table, the office has great energy. My Team is under a great manager who is very hands on and gets the work done, however they always do so in a way that makes you want to do more and be more productive and the team reinforces that message by supporting you with whatever needed.

The company and the team I was placed in have had interns in the past therefore a structure was put in place and I was onboarded in a way that by the end of my first 3 weeks I had gone through the basics of the company and my day to day job.

The company invests greatly in the development of all its employees. From online courses, webinars and in person delivery of workshops there are multiple opportunities for growth. In my time at Microsoft I managed to get multiple certifications on Office365 tools, webinars and participate in workshops delivered by professionals that I believe have given me a great advantage going in to the work market.

I saw my fellow placement student colleagues every day and I was one of the many that had another intern on the team. There is a great community feel to the early in careers as we are all in the same boat and get to learn from each other. Additionally, many of the extra projects we do is with one another.

Given that I was based in the offices in the south of the country, the housing was not necessarily cheap. Food wise it was the same as always. Transport was great as the TVP has a free shuttle bus that runs from town in to the offices to it saved me the money to buy bus tickets into work.

Personally, I do not go out at night that much however the times I did go it was relatively easy to find a nice place to have some drinks. There are multiple restaurants and bars that do 241 drinks throughout the week. Depending on where you are positioned you Nightlife would be very different, for me Reading was fine.

There were endless opportunities for extra activities, especially for the early in careers. From 101 teams that deliver large and small-scale events to supporting HR and other teams with their projects, interns are supported to join as many activities as possible. Not so much work oriented there are a couple of clubs to participate in, such as the football club.