Sales Support Ops Review

It was a sink or swim job; it was very hard to get used to but I have benefitted me in the end. I struggled sometimes with the work load given to me, as it was the same as a full time employee. However, I love a challenge and this certainly was one, this is a marmite job role not many who already work here would chose to take up. Having spoken to the other interns I had a lot of responsibility but in the most exciting areas so there was a lot going on.

I was part of a small, close nit team that had to rely on lots of other global teams in order to get things out the door. They were great with me and very supportive when there were difficult patches. I also got on well with those in different departments who tended to ask how things were going and if I was enjoying my time there.

I could have done with more, however with being so busy it was hard to get time aside for me. If I would have asked for more help I would have got it. There was an opportunity to have a mentor other than my manager, however I found I was too busy to take them up on the offer.

No two days were the same, depended on who you were as a person as to your preference of whether or not you would like the ups and downs. Some periods were very busy, so much so that I could have worked extended hours to get things done at times.

I was given a lot of responsibility, a bit too much for an intern I would say, but I feel this was because I was mature and eager to take on work that more was given to me because I could do it. When I did struggle my team would help me spread my workload out.

My experience has been totally invaluable to me; it has helped me grow as a person. I have been able to learn so much and had the opportunity to do things that not even those in my team have had the chance to do. This year has helped me put my learning into practice and also shown me the areas I need to develop before I graduate.

Me and my team had a lot of fun during my year, however the office was a bit quiet due to the fact that most of the people in the office were high level professionals. It depends on the people around you however as to the atmosphere, and also who you knew and didn't know.

I had a lot to learn and do but in a busy department it was difficult in the early months to get the right training first time. A lot of my learning came from just doing and remembering how I did things, it didn't help that I was the first intern in my department so there was not much training in place for me as the didn't know what to expect.

Time spent actually training and expanding knowledge was not very long. This skills and knowledge I built up over time was very valuable, so as an intern the year was a big investment in me, but in terms of if I were a full time employee then not a great deal.

The graduate schemes are very competitive to get onto. I will be applying though as they offer the most learning and the best opportunities that I have seen available. There were no jobs in my team going but I'm sure they would have extended the chance to me if I wanted it.

The interns on site (there was 8 of us), got on really well. We organised our own events and nights out between ourselves without input from the company. We didn't mix with the other GE site however; I don't know why that didn't happen. I went on a few nights out with my colleagues as well which was nice.

Cardiff is quite cheap to live in. Rent is not too expensive and there are lots of places to live. There are plenty of pubs and clubs to go out to. Lots of activities to do on the weekend etc. Cardiff is a lovely place to live, I've really enjoyed living here.

In Cardiff there are lots of clubs, and because there's lots of students there's loads of nights out every day of the week. It was also good because it wasn't dead on Fridays or Saturdays when I had time to go out, so I wasn't bored. Pubs were not expensive either.

Not many as there wasn't a large amount of people on site. It depended on who you knew and what you liked. I knew a lot of people from Cardiff Uni so they were part of groups and I just tagged along. There's loads of students so chances to make friends.