Marketing Manager Review

Microsoft offers a very valuable and enjoyable placement scheme. There was a lot of opportunity for training and developing yourself outside of your role through 101 teams and other courses available. There was a great intern community and the early in careers team were very supportive. I have rated this as 7 as I did not feel valued by my team members within my area of work, nor did I feel like they were interested in my development, or providing me with opportunities/work that would have a real impact.

Unfortunately, I did not feel very valued by my immediate colleagues. I felt they had old fashioned views of what is expected of an intern, so I was subjected to a lot of administrative tasks. Whilst every internship has these kind of tasks, I did not feel like my manager was interested in giving me opportunities that would develop my skills. There were a lot of times where I did not feel part of the team as I was not included in certain things like off-sites or after work events hosted by our org. Although this was the case, I did work hard to find other opportunities within my department, working closely with other colleagues who were willing to put in the time with me, and give me projects and responsibilities which have developed my skills. In terms of 101 teams, all interns were very supportive of each other and I felt that the early in careers team acknowledged our hard work.

I felt that my immediate manager did not give me much support or guidance. He seemed quite uninterested in me as a person, my goals for the year and areas I would like to work in. I was his only direct report, so this might be down to lack of experience over what is expected of a manager. I did however find that there were other members of my team who did take interest in me and provided a lot of support and guidance, which I am very grateful for.

There were times during the year when I was very busy, especially during the first few months. When I did find that I was not as busy, I would put extra effort into my 101 teams or studying for training courses. There is always something do to at Microsoft!

There were certain things I was responsible for as part of my job role. This was very valuable and I learnt a lot from the responsibility given to me. It felt quite rewarding being the person to go to for certain things and having people rely on you. I had to use my own initiative to solve problems and I was able to become an expert in certain things.

You learn a lot of soft skills during your placement year, skills you probably thought you already had, but then you realise quickly they are lacking when you enter the workplace. I am very grateful to have done my placement at Microsoft as I have developed in my confidence and skills. I also have a much better understanding of MS Office, which will be useful for any job role. There is a lot of opportunity for training and different courses and we are all encouraged to spend 10% of our time doing this as part of our development.

Microsoft in general has a great atmosphere. There are so many cool places to do your work or have meetings. You will always see other interns around and they are all very friendly. Each department is very different in terms of atmosphere. I joined at a time where there was some major redundancies and people were choosing to work from home more often, which meant my floor was very quiet most of the time. I would have liked for there to be more of an atmosphere. It often felt like I was the only one there sometimes. However, one of the best things about Microsoft is you do not have to constantly be at your desk. You can work from wherever you want.

The placement was very well organised. We had a great few days of induction, and before joining we did have a welcome day where we could meet up and get to know each other beforehand. We had a mid-year get-together to showcase what we had been up to in the first six months of our internship and there was also an offsite which was very enjoyable. The early in careers team encouraged us to set up meetings with them every months so they could check up on how we were doing and they were always there to talk if we needed to.

As I mentioned, there were plenty of training and development courses available. These were all free and these qualifications are recognised outside of Microsoft as well. We were encouraged to spend 10% of our time taking part in these courses and working on our development. There were plenty of resources to help prepare us.

Although I didn't have the best time with my immediate team, I do believe that Microsoft has a great graduate programme. There is the opportunity for international travel and to be part of a global network of graduate hires. I will consider applying back when looking at graduate schemes next year.

There was a very good social scene amongst interns. There was always something going on and everyone was invited. I didn't attend all of them, but it was nice to know that the opportunity was there. The social events which I did go to were very friendly and people had put in the effort to reserve bar space for us and get free drinks, which was very nice of them. There was also the Intern Committee who hosted various social events throughout the year. They focused on bringing everyone together and doing things we would not usually do, e.g. massive intern dinner or an evening in London.

Living in Reading is quite expensive due to its close proximity to London. If you house share, you can save a lot on rent. There was a free shuttle bus which took you to and from Thames Valley Park, which was amazing, as it meant we all saved a lot of money on travel. Socialising in Reading is fairly cheap compared to London. Everything is in one are and we all lived near the town centre. There is often special offers on drink and food. The money you save on travel and socialising makes up for the high rent prices!

There are some clubs in Reading, but the bar scene is generally more popular. Most social events we had were in bars/pubs. There is always something to do in Reading, so you will not be bored. It is also very close to London and the station is in a very convenient location, so it is easy to go for a night out there.

There are a lot of social clubs outside of work, such as football, golf, photography club etc. I was not involved in any of them, but I knew people who were, and it seemed like a great community and there was opportunity for international travel for interns through football. As interns, we had 101 teams which were very enjoyable. It was a way to work on different projects and to interact with interns who were not in your area of work. The 101 teams were one of the best things about the internship.