Service Provider Sales Support Review

The work i completed whilst on placement was varied and exciting. I was a Sales Intern at HPE involving interacting with customers and partners and responsible for producing daily forecast reports for management.

All my work was valued and appreciated. I found that after a month of finding my feet the team gave me more projects to work on and depended on me. The company has a recognition system whereby you can receive employee to employee feedback and thanks.

Managers time is limited however my manager put aside time every month for me to meet with him and to receive feedback on the work I had produced and he would answer any questions around the business and the industry. Feedback was vague from management however after my first meeting with my manager I asked for more constructive criticism.

The work was there if you wanted more, i only had to ask if i wanted more work. I was very busy with a busy calendar and events every week to attend. I did however have time to work on my skills and have sessions with my mentor. I also had time to organise fundraising events for charity and work on the intern committee.

My team worked all over the country, there is no one watching you and checking you are chained to your desk. I was monitored on the standard and speed of work produced. I was responsible for managing projects across EMEA reporting into senior management. It was very high pressure at the beginning but when you find your feet it is a great place to learn how to be organised and professional.

The skills I have learnt whilst on placement are invaluable. I will use these skills at university for group projects and organisation and in a graduate role and my future career.

The office was busy and fast paced. There were a large number of interns in the UK Head Office so it made the office a very fun environment with lots of events weekly. The site leader organised boutique shops to visit the site weekly, interns hosted charity events, senior leadership speaker sessions and site celebrations.

The future prospect of working for HPE are exciting. I'd like to go into sales and the program is always being developed to remain current with the industry. However you must reapply to the company to get a job there in future. This is slightly of putting as you work so hard you want to be considered and have job security before you return to university similarly to other companies in the IT industry. I still plan to reapply and work hard to return to a graduate role in sales.

The was a huge social scene amongst the interns at HPE. We had social events weekly and completed charity events together including a Christmas Boat Party, Halloween Thorpe Park, Bar Crawls, Palace to Palace Bike Ride, the Three Peaks Challenge and The Reading Half Marathon. With colleagues we often went out in London after working in the London office. The company had celebration events where all colleagues attended. There was a good balance of work and social at HPE.

Reading wasn't as expensive as London. It was easy to do things cheaply and together. There is a university in Reading so the housing available is at 'student prices' (£325 pcm per person). It is more expensive than living in the North of England but your salary does cover the cost of living. There are student nights in the bars offering cheaper drinks and entry fees.

There were tons of volunteering opportunities on offer through HPE. I volunteered at a gardening day and a school painting day. There we also events organised outside of work to attend such as the summer barbecue where there was a free bar, free food and fun activities such as an assault course and dodgeball. I also attending various HPE employee engagement events including the early screening of Kung Fu Panda 3 as HPE works closely with Dreamworks.