Release Manager Review

I was given real responsibilities and asked to do real work during my placement at HPE. Working alongside big named clients on real projects was a fantastic experience that really built my confidence. Although the work was not exactly what I would have liked to do, it still provided invaluable experience. .

My colleagues clearly valued the work I was doing and what I brought to the team. Right from the beginning my manager was prepared to give me real tasks to work on, no coffee runs! I quickly felt like part of the team and everybody made a big effort to make me feel welcomed.

My direct supervisors were excellent for giving support and guidance. I had One to Ones with my people manager on a monthly basis, allowing me to shape the direction of my placement to ensure I got the most out of it, and got what I wanted to out of it. One area that was lacking however is the overall intern management. Unclear who we were supposed to report to and what their role was. A development plan was intended to be used, however it was unclear how often reviews were supposed to take place and the whole process was a mess. That being said, direct management on my team was very helpful in providing feedback to intern management and working with them to try to create a more organised process.

For the most part I was busy, the nature of my role (release management) meant that some days I had much less to do than others. However this was well balanced throughout my placement and allowed me to take time to pursue activities such as charitable volunteering during the less busy times.

Right from the beginning I was given big responsibilities within my account for HPE. I surpassed expectations of my manager as to how well I performed, and as a result I was given even more responsibilities. Culminating with personally managing the quarterly release of new projects into the clients production environment after 9 months at the company.

The most valuable skills I gained were in the soft-skill areas, such as communication and time management. I feel as though I am far better prepared now to complete final year than I would have been had I not done a placement. My work ethic is now much more suited to completing final year and going into the working world than before my placement.

Most of my team had been had HPE a long time and as such did not get involved in social events. A lot of individuals worked from home much of the time, and the office was often very, very quiet. That being said it was still on occasion a fun environment to work in and we did enjoy one or two social events.

Although our initial onboarding experience was excellent, overall organisation was lacking on my site (Newcastle) for the internship setup. The management of the internship changed hands a number of times during my placement and this created an atmosphere of uncertainty around what work we were supposed to complete and what the purpose of it was.

Initially we completed a 3 day, instructor-led ITIL Foundation course. This was a a good experience and looks great on the CV if applying for future jobs at large IT firms. Although there was budget to complete further training, this was focused on permanent employees and interns were not targeted for extra training.

HPE is currently going through a massive period of change. As a result, morale is extremely low. It seems virtually everybody has had the threat of redundancies over their heads for some time and this does not appear to be changing anytime soon. Pay rises and bonuses are few and far between, despite excellent performance by certain accounts.Although it was good for a placement, I do not see myself coming back after I graduate.

The social scene was fairly lacking. On my account specifically, although we had team lunches every few months (no company budget!), nights out for example were few and far between. Social events only really seemed to be for people leaving. Again, no budget meant it was difficult to organise events, either on the account or as an intern community.

The north-east is a cheap area to live. The £15,000 salary doesn't sound a lot but it does go a long way up in Newcastle. Can easily live on £400 a month (plus rent) so lots left over at the end of the month. Transport costs were the biggest costs related to the placement itself.

Nightlife in Newcastle doesn't really need an introduction and is undoubtedly awesome. Not much at all around HPE site itself however, so make sure you live in the city center and commute out to the business park if you can. Links to the business park are excellent by bus. They are making it more difficult to commute by car though!

Over the year I did have a few opportunities to get involved with volunteering activities. For a period of 4 months I volunteered at a local school, assisting them in the creation of Lego robots for the First Lego League competition. There were also a few other opportunities, but in general there wasn't great communication surrounding these.