Sales Strategy & Planning Review

For most of my placement I thoroughly enjoyed working at HPE. I enjoyed working in my team, being exposed to a change in job role and felt challenged to a good extent. As there is a big intern cohort I also enjoyed the social side and events put on. I was also able to get involved in a role outside of SSP which was enjoyable and again challenging.

I felt valued by most of my colleagues. My direct team were very friendly and also helpful. Having 7 other interns in our team was also valuable as we were able to share knowledge and support each other when needed. We also got involved in team activities again making me feel a valued member of the team. The only time I did not feel value at times was when I sent out work to other teams I sometimes felt it was not appreciated.

For most of my placement I felt very supported, especially by my line manager. They would support with explaining work when need be and was also interested in my development while on placement. The only drawback of my support was when I had a change in line manager who I felt I had no support from. I feel this is because they were new and settling into their role, but at times could be frustrating when I needed some support.

I’d say my workload at times came in peaks and troughs depending the time in the financial year, but relatively it was moderate. When moderate I was able to carry out ad-hoc tasks. Furthermore there were periods that I would be required to stay later to complete work/take calls but in the job specification it did state that I was required to be flexible.

My responsibility grew as I was on placement. When settling into my role although I was responsible for the work I carried out and sent out, I did not have too many responsibilities. As my placement progressed I gained responsibility for organising things in my team, and helping organise events within other teams. Furthermore I had responsibility for covering the period that my line managers role was vacant. This was good for my development.

I hope that this will assist me doing well in my degree as I will be able to apply what I am learning to a real workplace situation. Furthermore I believe the skills and training I have incurred will assist me when applying for jobs when graduating as it is a very good company to have on my CV and I have gained a lot of confidence and professionalism in the workplace.

The general atmosphere in office was very positive. As it was an open office it was always friendly and meant colleagues were very approachable. The management team are also not secluded to closed offices which again creates a cohesive atmosphere. This also helps you to feel valued. The Bracknell office also being busy makes it fun to work in.

The overall work placement is relatively structured. We have a handover month which creates a smooth transition and confident to complete your work on your own. My only comment is that this structure is created by our team and line managers so the intern structure may vary across the board. More consistency could work better.

I feel that more investment could be put into the interns. When expense cuts are made interns are the first not be able to attend events. This at times makes you feel undervalued as we have also provided work for these events. Even though pay seems to be below average for the area we live in for an internship though I feel like I have gained through skills and professionalism.

I feel that most graduate positions are very sales focused and does not feed on from my intern role so I see it unlikely that I will progress as a graduate at Hewlett Packard Enterprise. I will not rule out coming back to HPE in the long term future though. I feel if you would like to do sales though in the future, the internship offers a good path to this.

The social side to the internship was very fun with over 50 interns. Although most socials work organised by ourselves they were always fun. We were advised to live in halls for the first month which most interns do. This is a good way to make friends and fin people to live with. HPE also organised a paid trip to Royal Ascot for the interns which was very enjoyable. We also got to attend end of Financial Year drinks with our other colleges.

Reading in relatively expensive in terms of Rent, and Bracknell does not have many amenities around that are good for students. Other than cost, Reading has lots of shops, bars, and restaurants. The cost of taxi’s are relatively cheap, and nights out are also moderately priced. Going out on a weekday for student nights are usually cheaper than the weekends too.

Nightlife is not as busy as I am used to but there are enough pubs, clubs and bars to go to. There are many chains and independent bars which are usually busy on the weekend. Bars can sometimes be quite quiet on weekdays. Intern socials always make the nightlife better!

Outside of work there are a lot of extracurricular activities. For the males there is a HPE football club. Furthermore the intern cohort are able to get involved with a lot of charity events. Palace to palace, the 3 peaks challenge and many more. Interns from time to time also run events that raise money for charity such as a trip to Ascot, Thorpe Park. There are also fitness classes run on site at Bracknell.