Services Solution Strategy Executive Intern Review

I really enjoyed my core role as I was able to develop key skills and learn new ones. It was challenging and exciting throughout and I got to work with people all over the organisation, which helped me understand the organisation better. It also gave me the opportunity to get involved in activities outside of my core role.

Throughout my internship I was always valued as much as a full time employee. I was given core roles within my team and trusted to deliver with the support of others if necessary. I was also asked to help in projects outside of my team which made me feel valued across the organisation.

I was supported by my manager through regular one to one meetings and and regular meetings with my whole team. Every 3 months I also had the opportunity to speak to my manager in depth about my impact within the organisation and how my manager can support my career growth.

I was fairly busy on on a daily basis, most of my time was spent doing my core role and stretch project. Where I had free time I was able to work on training and upskilling, also working in employee resource groups. My time was split between my core role and other activities I was supporting.

At the start of my internship I was supported a lot when working on projects and throughout my internship I was given more responsibility. It was good to have extra support at the start as it set me up for success later on in my internship when I was leading projects.

The skills I have learnt/ developed will assist me in my studies and beyond because I was able to get MOS certifications which I can use at university and beyond. I have also become more confident during this internship and now have a better understanding of my strengths and weaknesses.

The atmosphere in the office was always great, even on a busy day there was always time to catch up with everyone and everyone was always positive. Most people would work from home or on customer site, but this was not a problem as it was still very easy to get hold of them.

Overall the work placement was set up really well and I had some time at the beginning for onboarding and training. There were some intern check-ins set up throughout the year. I also had to create a development plan 3 months into my internship, which helped me plan what I wanted to achieve throughout the year.

I had the opportunity to do Microsoft Operations Specialist certification, and upskill through MOOCs and various other technical training. We were also given full days where we are encouraged to undertake some training/ learning throughout the day. All of the training I did was provided for free and has been encouraged by my manager.

There is an opportunity to apply for a graduate role towards the end of the internship which offers a graduate role after university. The application process begins during the end of the internship and there are a handful of roles to apply to. However some intern roles are not offered as graduate roles.

There was a good social scene amongst the interns, but as the cohort is so big and stretched throughout the organisation it was difficult to get everyone together. However it was easy to set up events and gatherings outside of work with other interns in my team and in my department.

I did not live in Reading as I commuted into work because it was cheaper and easier, but there is opportunity to socialise in reading. There is a free shuttle bus running from the centre of town to the offices which makes it easy to get together with others after work.

I never really experienced the nightlife in Reading as I was not interested in it, but as Reading is a student town there is a good nightlife in the area. This also meant that going out was affordable and it was easy to find places which appealed to my age group.

There were some opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work such as tech networking events. I attended a couple of these which helped me meet other people in the tech space. Also my manager organised some team building activities outside of work which were fun. There were also some volunteering activities organised by interns and other employees,