Recruitment Intern Review

I have really enjoyed my placement year and it has given me an insight into what it is like to work in a multinational organisation. I have been given a real job role which comes with real responsibility, I have really enjoyed this as you feel as though you are adding value to your projects and team.

I felt very valued by my colleagues as they always praised me for my hard work and commitment and thanked me for helping them do things that sometimes they were unsure of. I also felt that I was given more responsibility and freedom to work independently as the placement year went on, which was good for me as it showed they trusted me.

I had weekly 1:1's with my supervisor where we would discuss any issues I had and what I should be doing for the week ahead. I would only meet with my manager fortnightly but that worked well as she didn't work so closely with me on projects. I also had a buddy which was someone else in my team who was there for me if I needed anyone or to ask any questions to if I couldn't ask my supervisor or manager.

My role followed a hiring cycle which meant that it was different all year round, at certain points of the year I would be really busy and at others I wouldn't. I didn't really mind though as when I wasn't busy I would tell my manager and supervisor and they would ask my team if anyone needed help. This meant that I got involved in projects beyond my core role.

I was given lots of responsibility during my placement year. I was trusted to deal with sensitive information and was able to run an event for 50 new interns totally by myself. This meant that I was trusted to plan the whole event end to end which involved organising people from lots of groups across Intel.

The skills I have gained through my internship will be extremely helpful for my degree. I have improved confidence when presenting as I often had to talk in meetings and present my findings to my colleagues including managers. I have also developed time management skills through having deadlines. My general organisation skills have also been improved as I have had to organise the logistics for multiple events and solve problems when they occur.

The office atmosphere changes depending on where you are working. In some areas it is very quiet however everyone is very friendly and polite. The atmosphere is quite relaxed as most people dress smart casual and you are able to work in the canteen and other areas of the building if you would like.

The internship is set up really well at Intel as they run it the same way they have for many years. They employ 50-60 interns are you all start on the same day so you all get your laptops together and have training together. The internship is 13 months long so you have a 5 week handover with the intern you are taking over from. This works really well as you have enough time to complete all of your training and work out what you do and don't understand before they leave.

I completed training with Social Talent which is a series of training videos and tasks to upskill recruiters when it comes to sourcing and headhunting. I completed the training with everyone else in my team which was nice as we got to try out things we learnt together. I also really liked the fact it talked about the psychology of recruitment as that is the area I am interested in. Other than Social Talent training which took a few months, I didn't complete any other courses, however a lot of time was invested in making sure I knew how to use all of the recruitment/HR tools and making sure I knew all of the processes.

There aren't lots of options for coming back into HR as it rarely happens, but it doesn't mean it never will. However there are options to come back into other departments particularly if you shadow people within the department and get involved in projects with other departments whilst you are doing your placement year.

Yes! A lot of the interns live together or live close together. This means that we often have nights out on weekends, celebrate each others birthdays and have even been on holiday together. There is a Sports and Social intern committee which organise events such as mixed netball and a beach party. A lot of social events happen during our handover period including a handover ball which is a last celebration for the interns that are leaving. Some teams also organise lots of social events, in HR we do something each quarter like trampolining and a barbecue.

Swindon is a cheap place to live compared to most places. Rent is usually cheap and it is affordable to live close enough to work not to have to drive. Most of the interns have to relocate so they find living together or in a house share is a good way not to spend too much money.

Swindon nightlife isn't great. Old town offers lots of different restaurants, some pubs and bars and is very close to work so is easy to get to. New town has a couple of places to go out but Swindon isn't a uni town so it won't be like going out at uni. However with all of us together we make the most of it and have had really good nights out. It also isn't very far to travel to Bristol or Bath if you would rather go out there.

I got involved with an intern netball team which was organised outside of work. We all played once a week at a court near work and when it got warmer we played on the court in Intel's carpark. We got the chance to go to corporate games and represent Intel, so although it was organised through work it was nothing to do with the job role.