Cloud Partner Marketing Manager Review

I had a fantastic internship and although in future I look forward to further responsibility and leadership opportunities, I gained so much more from my year here than I had expected within an internship, and I am confident that my experience here will have prepared me to embark on a career as soon as I leave university.

I felt highly valued by the vast majoirty of my colleagues. There was only one instance in which I was told that I shouldn't take on a particular task because I was 'only an intern' but this came from someone who was not used to working with interns. I received an apology from this individual when I took on the particular task and was commended by other colleagues for completing it well.

I had 1:1's with my manager each week, in which she provided feedback (both positive comments and constructive feedback) and asked where I would like to develop further so that she could suggest opportunities I could then seek out within the wider business to help my overall performance and also how I could apply the learning through employment to my academic studies. My manager took an interest in my professional, academic and personal wellbeing and made sure that my achievements throughout the internship were recognised by others in the business, which helped to build my profile and a positive reputation.

I was very busy, but I like to be busy! I would work full days (and sometimes additional hours) but as Microsoft believe in a flexible workstyle, I was also able to work from home or leave early on the odd occasion that I may need to, so it balanced out. More importantly than the volume of work, the demands of my tasks were always challenging and engaging so I enjoyed the work.

I was given more responsibility than had thought I would have been throughout the internship. I first had the opportunity to settle into my role and understand what was required of me on a day to day basis, and then as soon as I was able to do this competently, I was given sole responsibility of planning, executing and analysing two campaigns (one of which involved project-managing two other employees who were both older and more experienced than me) and reporting my findings back to corporate. I was also given accountability of leading the partner activities around one of our product launches, which was very exciting. Knowing that I was being trusted with important tasks really helped me to feel valued and also to make sure I could stay on top of my game to show that I was able to deliver on my commitments.

I cannot imagine now the extent to which this role has laid the foundations for me to (hopefully) flourish within the next steps of my studies and into a career. The elements of my role which have involved understanding consumer behaviour, communications and advertising will relate directly back to the theories I will study during the final year of my Psychology degree, and have provided some great ideas for my dissertation. I feel very privelidged to have had the opportunity to build my confidence and gain experience within such a fantastic company.

Usually it was great fun and my team were great to work with. There is a 'work hard, play hard' attitude at work so whilst during core hours most people keep their heads down, there was always a social atmosphere and plenty of opportunity to spend time getting to know our colleagues.

The system worked extremely well and made sure that the interns had a throrough induction and appraisal process (as well as s number of social activities for our community).

Extensively - I attended a number of role-related training courses, as well as having the option to opt into soft-skill courses (of which I attended one around assertiveness, one around crucial conversations and one around impact and influence).

Microsoft have a Graduate Scheme which I will certainly be applying to, but if I am unsuccessful I will try to make my way back into the company via contracting or applying for a direct Full Time Employee role.

It was very active, so much so that I would often need to avoid the social scene to get my head down and be able to meet my deadlines with my work at the standard I wanted. It was great to be able to have a lively social community for evenings or weekends though, and interns were always very willing to help each other out or pitch in on each others' group projects which was very helpful.

I have lived in the local area for many years so am not sure of the direct comparison with other areas, but I know that many other interns (particularly those from further north) felt that the cost of living and socialising was expensive.

It was lively with plenty of options. The bars in Reading may not be the best quality, but they are generally friendly and the interns found their local hub quite quickly!

Loads - Microsoft run a sports and social scheme so I took part in the Touch Rugby league and visited the on-site gym every day. Similarly, there were often team activities to celebrate the end of quarter/end of year which involved either team building or socialising.