Business Operations and Sales Support Review

It was an amazing opportunity with plenty of responsibility. The reason I didn't mark it higher is that at the beginning it lacked structure and training, however it encouraged proactivity and the chance to network. You gain soo much insight to how a leading organisation in technology operates with the exposure to many deals where you can see the value you are adding.

The company itself is an amazing place to work for, everyone there is friendly and wants you to do well. Other colleagues once they have seen how you work they then entrust you to take on more responsibility and leave you to get on with it, I prefer this as you learn quickly and able to learn from mistakes.

I feel there could have been more training at the start of the internship which is why I have ranked it lower, however the beginning of the fiscal year is very quiet so there wasn't many people around to support. Saying this, my core team and mentors were amazing and whenever I needed help or advise they would all make the time for me.

Being busy really did vary on the time of year and how many customer meetings/ other opportunities I took on in addition to my core role. There were some days when it was quiet and other days where I didn't stopped and did longer hours but that is how the business operates and you make the most of it depending on the time of year.

You are given a lot of responsibility here at Microsoft, and the more you network the more you can increase this. However this is purely based on the individual and how much you personally want to take on. I did spend a lot of time looking for opportunities and some did come all at once and then led to more.

My degree was very niche 'tourism management' and I applied myself to a technology business. However, business is business and therefore I have learnt countless skills, developed so much personally and in various tools/ excel that will help me way beyond my university degree. Having a year in industry has allowed me to apply my two years of university and taught skills I will go and use for the rest of my life..

The office was always fun. Although sometimes it is very quiet as many people work from home, but there was always a lot of fun. Everyone is so friendly, always have lunch together and celebrating a birthday or achievement. It is a very laid back company in terms of what you can wear and supports the flexibility of work, you don't have to stay at your desk... you can work from anywhere.

It differs, some areas there was a lot of structure, the interns were given an early in careers manager who help with the whole intern community set up our graduation event, and team offsite. However the core roles are organised by your team manager and on boarded by previous interns and this could of have more attention to detail.

They were very good, each intern gets a few mentors as well as they manager checking in on them, so bi-weekly and monthly you have half an hour set up to talk about your personal development. They really did invest in this and although sometimes it didn't stick to the times it was very useful. You also complete a thing called a 'connect' which you submit to show your manager exactly what you are doing, we checked in in team meetings too. Training it was different, sometimes you got a lot other times it was used the tools to learn, but I feel that it a good way of learning.

The graduate scheme is very appealing, the salary is competitive and the overall opportunity is amazing. They hire externally differently to internally, so you get to skip a few rounds of the hiring process. However working for a competitive company also has it draw backs, they don't have enough spaces for everyone to get it and therefore you compete against other interns who can sell themselves just like you. So it is still competitive!

The intern and graduate community was so close in my year and it helped that we all lived on the same road. In a way it felt like university as you are constantly going out and just chilling round everyone's house, but also have more money to spend so it was great. I will most definitely keep in touch with a lot of the interns and graduates and will miss the community.

Reading is based just outside of London so it is not the cheapest place to live, however it was cheaper that where I was previously. You also have a competitive salary so you spent more and it doesn't feel like you are ever out of pocket. There are lots of cheaper places and inexpensive things to do in Reading so I never struggled.

Again, I cam from a University that only really had a student union and a couple of bars so for me it was so much better. Those who came from a big city said it wasn't as lively but it is near Reading University so there is a demand for a good nightlife and the town centre has everything you really need.

I didn't really look too much into the opportunities outside work, I know there were a lot of interns who played rugby for a league or football team. There were also a lot of social sport teams which companies compete against so they are most definitely there.