Talent Acquisition Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the projects I was working on and the work I have been doing has been quite varied through out my placement. Having experienced organisational change during the middle of my placement, I was exposed more to the operational recruitment side of talent acquisition and my manager gave me the opportunity to learn more about how this works and even supported me to go on an internal training course for hiring managers. Although I enjoyed the work I had to do, I did have to re-prioritize at times due to the amount of admin tasks that I was required to do. This could sometimes get quite repetitive and complicated as these tasks required a lot of follow up such as raising purchase orders to ensure that the payment is made. However, this has been noted and I am aware that this may not be so much the case for future interns.

My colleagues were highly appreciative of the work I was doing and were grateful of my support. I was fully integrated into my team as any other employee and received a valuable induction which made me feel valued as an intern coming into the company. I was given a lot of responsibility during my placement and was not micro managed by my line manager which made me feel like she trusted me with what I was doing.

I was fully supported by my line manager during the majority of my placement although I was not much supported at the start of my placement due to the absence of my line manager. However, I had guidance from surrounding employees and as my hand over period from the previous intern was a month long, I had plenty of time to learn about the role and get up to scratch with my daily tasks. Although I would have appreciated more guidance from my manager at the start of placement, it was good for me as I grew a lot from this experience and learnt things through trial and error. Now, I do not need much guidance as I have learnt a lot through my placement. Also, Siemens is currently championing 'Ownership Culture' in which employees are expected to take initiative and drive results and therefore you will be expected to be able to work independently.

This varies on a day to day basis as working in talent acquisition means that work can fluctuate depending on the time of year. Some days I was required to work overtime to complete my outstanding tasks whereas other days I had a lot of free time on my hands to organise myself and work on low priority tasks. Overall it balanced out as I had several projects that I could work on in my own time when I was less busy and I never had too much going on to the extent where I wouldn't be able to complete anything in time.

Like most interns I came across in the business, we are given a lot of responsibility during our placement and the work you will be doing is relevant and important. If I did not complete my work to a certain standard, there would be consequences and therefore I felt that the work I was doing had impact. For example, for my role I was involved in a lot of events management and therefore I organise myself well and keep on track of what needed to be done. The CEO attended a few events that I had organised including some other high profile attendees which meant that I had to do a good job!

Working in the Talent Acquisition team at Siemens, I have grasped a broader understanding of HR, recruitment and the 'war on talent' which are all important subjects covered in my degree at Lancaster. I now have a broader understanding of how a business functions and why certain things such as recruiting the right people are so important to its functioning. I definitely think that I will be able to bring a more practical view point to my studies whereas in the past I struggled with grasping certain concepts because I didn't have this experience to refer to. This placement will not only benefit me in my final year at university, it has also given me an eye opener into HR and increased my desire to work in this area. I have gained valuable skills which will increase my employability prospects and help me in my future career.

At the start of my placement the office was fairly quiet and quite serious however after the change of organisation structure, it has changed quite dramatically. The Siemens Frimley site is very compartmentalized and therefore I was sitting only with the HR talent/reward team in which there was one other intern in my old team. However, there are graduates in the other buildings on site which often meet for regular breaks/lunch so we never felt lonely.

My placement was quite well organised as I was the fourth person to be in this role and therefore the tasks that I had to do were pretty much set out. I think the start of my placement could have been better organised as my hand over was too long and I struggled with not having much to do however once fully settled in the role I became familiar with what is part of the role and my daily tasks.

Siemens greatly invests in their entry level talent (interns/graduates) and as a placement year student at Siemens, I was on a developmental scheme called the Intern Development Programme. This scheme offers several core modules designed for our personal development and to equip us with those necessary soft skills. During my placement, I went on a team building day with other interns in the company which was a fantastic experience. As previously mentioned, my manager also invested in me by allowing me to go on training programmes and to get involved with things not directly related to my role.

For me, I am not sure whether I will return to Siemens as of yet due to the lack of an HR scheme. For those in business/engineering roles, there are plenty of opportunities to come back and the assessment process is a lot simpler for returning interns. I would love to work for Siemens again in the future as I think this is a great company with a focus on training and development. It is also good for those who would like to travel internationally as there are plenty of opportunities to go abroad depending on your role and flexibility.

Definitely. There are plenty of people on the graduate scheme and the Siemens Finance Academy scheme who would often send invites to the rest of the entry level talent community for days out/nights out. Everyone meets for coffee at 3pm at our onsite Starbucks which helps to break up the day and we often go to the cinema/for dinner in town. I believe that they even have a holiday planned soon together.

The cost of living is relatively high as it is Surrey, one of the most expensive places to live in the UK. I was living in a shared house combined with the people who owned the house which reduced my rent price quite a bit. Travel is also quite expensive such as bus and trains and I would definitely recommend driving to save yourself the hassle. Also, as there is not so much to do nearby, you really have to go into London which can add up as well.

Honestly, not so great. Frimley is a small town in Surrey which means for decent night life you have to venture quite far. The train from Farnborough to London is only 35 minutes which is a huge bonus however you would need to take a taxi there/leave your car in the station. Frimley is also not far from Guildford/Reading which I believe offer good nights out. The nearest town with bars/clubs to Frimley would be Camberley which doesn't have that much to offer.

There were plenty of things to get involved in outside of work with Siemens. I was on the committee for the NEXT UK Frimley team which is a group for young professionals with the aim to increase networking across the site. We organised regular socials with other Siemens employees such as pub evenings, skills events and nights out. There are also plenty of volunteering opportunities to get involved in as an intern/graduate across the country. I volunteered for the Big Bang Fair in Birmingham which was a great experience. My colleague is also a STEM ambassador meaning she visits local schools with the aim of inspiring children about STEM subjects.