Oracle Security DBA (Database Administrator) Review

Although I did enjoy certain aspects of my internship (mainly the intern community, which was not improved by HPE but was due to the fact all the interns got along so well), as a whole I believe the year to be poor. Very badly organised and with no clear direction. I was often left with either too much work, or no work to do. The role did not suit me, coming from a finance background and working i a very technical role.

Within my team I felt like I was doing an important job, however in the company as a whole there was no feedback from above, no clear appraisal or review method and no clear company structure at all. If you want to feel like a valued employee, work somewhere else.

I feel my manager always gave her all, however they always have way too much work. This is not their fault and comes from above, the company tries to rinse every manager for as much work as possible, which results in employees below being forgotten about. Over the year there was no clear sense that I was an intern, it felt like I was just a normal employee. If I approached my manager they always helped as much as they could.

At the start of my placement I was very busy as I was being trained, the level of training in my team was maybe the only positive I can find. Once I had been trained we were busy for a while, but due to my technical role we automated a lot of systems, this has meant towards the end of my placement I have been much more quiet.

I have been given responsibility and feel like a normal employee. This could be a positive from a responsibility point of view but from an intern point of view there was no sense of community. The responsibility was often given due to the fact no one else was available as they were being over worked.

As i have done a finance degree and an IT placement, absolutely none.

I really enjoyed the team I was working with, if I was on a team with people I didn't get along with I would have felt the year as a whole was a definitely not worth it. I have had the experience of working for a large multi-national business which is positive. Although I get along very well with my colleagues the atmosphere is very negative. There is so much uncertainty, a usual day consists of the rest of my team complaining about how poor the company. Stating they are going in the wrong direction (I agree). This has maybe had an effect on my motivation, however, if other employees clearly feel this way then it is obvious the company is doing something wrong. Colleagues on my team have worked here for 15 years plus, back to when HP overtook EDS and they say its never been so poor. I can't help but think this is the case.

Before I started information was communicated very well, we were told to sort our clearance levels out so we could start as soon as possible. The first couple of weeks consisted of our on boarding with the other interns. This was maybe a little drawn out but meant it was nice to get to know the others. I was told I was working on a certain account, when I started on my team after 2 weeks it turns out they didn't work on that account and solely on a different one. This didn't cause many problems but highlighted the fact that the organisation was not as good as it should have been. Our internship tasks have been communicated well and I have no complaints about them, except there should probably be more. All we have is a 6 and 12 month presentation review.

I did have extensive training on my team, this was delivered by my team lead. The training was to an adequate level but was just in my role. The company didn't invest in training in this area. They did however put all the interns on the itil scheme when we started, this is very handy and is a qualification I can put on my CV when looking for jobs after.

In the future I would maybe consider coming back. I have slightly slated the company, but this may be due to my team and who i was working with and the role I was doing. I do know people who love the company. If I were to come back it wouldn't be in a technical role but more of a business role as I feel there are a lot more opportunities to progress and to get involved in a lot more different things.

There was a great social sense between us yes. This however was not down to the company but because we got to know each other so well in the first couple of weeks and got along so well. We regularly meet up outside work to socialise (not organised events). Only an 8 as very few events orgainsed by HPE for interns.

I was previously up at university in Newcastle, where my placement is based, so i know the areas well. Newcastle as a whole isn't the most affluent area meaning the cost of living is low, socialising with people from work and university was also a massive positive of being up here.

Obviously Newcastle is renound for having a great nightlife. None of this was pushed through by events ran by HPE, but yeah the nightlife is great.

There were certain opportunities to get involved in out of role activities. There weren't loads as my job was relatively busy, during the first 6 months anyway. However when I have had downtime's I have been able to help out in certain activities. These weren't definitely not pushed upon us, but rather if I wanted to help i went out to find something to help with.