EG Consulting Sales Support Review

Working at HPE has been fantastic this year. There has been so much variation throughout the year, especially the split between Hewlett Packard Inc and Hewlett Packard Enterprise in November 2015. Within the business there is a strong & large intern community which has given me the opportunity to make new friends and attend events with other people my age, as well as working alongside people who are older and have more senior roles in my department.

My colleagues often recognised my hard work and committment to the job and the frequent praise I received made me feel valued as more than an intern. I felt part of the team as much as everyone else in my department and the job became more rewarding the more I knew it was helping the team to reach their targets. Every person I met at HPE was friendly and helpful - there is a real sense of community here and that is reflected in the success and happiness of the employees.

My manager's support was invaluable to me throughout the whole 13 months. By using emails and skype for business I was always able to receive the help I needed. My manager and I had weekly one-to-one meetings to discuss my progress and she asked me frequently if there were other business units or projects which I would like to get involved with. There were always new opportunities opening up and always the support I needed to help me experience as much as I wanted to,

The role was based around booking sales orders for the month so I found that the amount of work I had varied a lot depending on what time of the month it was. At the start of a new month I had spare time to experience other areas of the business or set up meetings to meet senioir members of staff and other leads which I am interested in. Then towards the middle-end of the month I had more sales orders to book and the days often flew by as I was busier.

I was responsible for booking the sales orders, which meant if any orders were not booked, we would not be able to reach our monthly target. I felt highly responsible for ensuring the team were able to meet their target for the month and that this was done smoothly and ahead of time. I was also responsible for keeping the Forecast File up to date, which shows the deals we are expecting and their current status. Without this file it becomes very hard for the sales team to make informed decisions. The file is also used daily for calls and meetings, so I felt I had a high level of responsibility to keep the file up to date.

I firmly believe that by completing this placement year I have increased my chances of employment greatly. The skills I have learned are extremely varied and I will be able to transfer these skills to other business areas and even other companies. I feel more prepared for future interviews and I have a higher level of understanding as to how global companies run and the teamwork involved to make them a success.

Throughout the year many events were held at the office such as cream tea for the Queen's birthday, charity bake off, car wash for charity, and there were weekly visitors to the office selling books, flowers, handbags and clothes. The atmosphere was professional yet fun - there were events to attend but also quieter areas for you to sit if you wanted to focus on your work or had an important call to make. The interns ran lunch time events for skills development and to raise money for charity,

The training at the beginning of the placement was well run and there was a clear schedule laid out. For the first month all the interns were taught their new role by the existing intern currently doing the job which meant there was lots of opportunity to ask for help and learn the role with guidance before the existing intern went back to university. Payroll and benefits etc were well organised and there was lots of communication from HR about the onboarding tasks we needed to complete.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise value their interns greatly as they are fundamental to the running and success of the company. A lot of time was invested to set up training days to learn about other sectors of the business and new products being launched. Senior members of staff were approachable at events and made the effort to get to know individual interns. The job roles are all varied which means there is lots of opportunity to expand your skillset.

There is a wide range of graduate roles available to apply for and throughout the year there is plenty of opportunity to learn about them and speak to current graduates who are on the scheme. The schemes are appealing as there is a lot of training involved which I believe would set you up well for the future at HPE. There's also a lot of scope to move around and become project managers and account owners - showing that HPE are not afraid to give you responsibility and give you a real insight into what's available for the future here.

The interns had weekly events, usually held in the town centre and also got involved with other events throughout the year, such as Palace to Palace (cycle from Buckingham Palace to Windsor Caste), Three Peaks Challenge, Half Marathon, Race for Life, Royal Ascot and Henley Regatta to name a few! We had a good intern committee to organise events and attended to 'Intern Balls' - one when you start and another when you leave, which are fantastic. As a team, we attended events in London and went Go Karting for example.

Within Bracknell and Reading there are good links to London at a fair price and trains/buses between other towns. The cost of living is probably average student housing prices and the interns usually car share to work to keep travel costs down. There are lots of bars and pubs, nightclubs and restaurants in Reading which made it really easy to socialise with other interns without having to spend a fortune and there are always lots of taxis available at the end of the night for interns to share on the way home.

Reading has lots of clubs and bars which made it easy to do something different every week. Interns set up themed nights out each week and went for meals for intern's birthdays etc. There are also lots of chain restaurants which means you can use vouchers to eat out and the nightclubs often do deals with HPE to get discounted entry or a free drink for example.

There were lots of volunteering opportunities. We did 'Stop Hunger Now' which involved packing food parcels to send to Poverty Stricken countries in a certain time limit. We also volunteered at a local garden area which helps people who have had hard upbringings and we also did other sporting events such as Tough Mudder / Race for Life / Reading Half Marathon.