Lab Engineer Review
by Hewlett Packard Enterprise
This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
3.3
-
The Company
2.7
-
The Culture
2.5
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
There wasn't enough technical work coming through which meant I was often bored
I was very well integrated into the team. Helped by the fact I worked with two graduates for most of the year. The team was also quite small (<10) which helped. Often went for sociable drinks at lunchtimes.
I was given reasonable support and guidance from my manager, we would have regular catch up meetings where we discussed where to go next, etc. Unfortunately, sometimes my manager would be ambiguous about certain tasks I needed to perform which sometimes caused confusion with me and other members of the team. Another colleague was effectively my supervisor and gave me excellent support.
I wasn't kept busy enough in the first 6 to 8 months of my placement. This was partly because there wasn't much work coming in.
I was given lots of responsibility to get on with the tasks I needed to do.
There were some good training courses available on our Intranet, which were sometimes very good. I now have lots of UNIX and Linux experience which will undoubtedly help me in my degree and my career in IT. Unfortunately, I don't feel I did anything particularly challenging, alot of what I learnt was reasonably straightforward and didn't require much understanding.
The Company
Atmosphere was usually very good; except for a period when people were made redundant.
Was reasonably well organised, most of my colleagues were organised people which helped.
Most of the training was self-motivated and available on the Intranet. I don't feel it was anything special.
Sports and Social Club
Above 25 days holiday
Unfortunately most interesting technical jobs are moving to India or are in the United States. HP UK is effectively a sales and marketing organisation.
The Culture
There was a group of about 60 placement students across various areas of the business. This meant the social scene was very good as there was lots of people to meet etc. The first month was spent in University of Reading halls of residence which was a great way to give us time to find housemates also at HP and find a house, as many of us were new to the area.
Reading is reasonably expensive. £3+ for a pint in most places.....
Despite the fact Reading is a University town, I didn't feel the nightlife was very good. There were no large venues (except for the Students' Union) in town.
As part of HP there was little opportunity. We had an Intern committee which organised some events.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
Scotland
April 2010
