Product Specialist / Business Development Exec. Review

I really enjoyed the placement at TechData. The office was a rewarding atmosphere to operate in, I felt valued by my team and my decisions did have an impact on business which was great. I had realistic targets and goals which I felt helped me to stay motivated. Finally all of my colleagues were very friendly and encouraging.

I very much felt valued by my colleagues. My manager would give me constructive criticism and praise when I deserved either. One downside is the size of the company and you can sometimes get lost in this, however this wasn't the case in my team.

I was given a fair amount of support and guidance during my time at TechData. I was trained by the previous person in my position and also given a handover document and support. If ever I didn't understand how to do something my manager would help me until I did understand. However I also felt that I wasn't spoon fed information and would always try to figure something out for my own development before asking.

I had a mixture of busy and slower days. I was very busy whilst other colleagues had holidays or were off sick. However there were some days when I was fairly quiet but I just used this to complete some other tasks for my development. I feel like if I was so busy I didn't get a chance to do other tasks then I would have learnt less.

I actually moved into a position that was previously held by a full time member of staff that had been there for years. This enabled me to take on extra responsibilities which I really enjoyed. I'm thankful that the management placed this trust in me, and being taken out of my comfort zone was a real learning process.

I did develop some skills such as presentation, excel and listening techniques. However I feel there could have been more training available. If you asked for it, you could get access to it, however some people are quite shy and don't like to ask. I think what I learnt the most were person skills, how to manage relationships and conduct yourself.

The general atmosphere was a happy, motivated and enthusiastic one. My manager himself was a loud and personable guy, so he helped to create this. Some days were quieter then others but this is only natural. We also had special days and events that helped to boost morale. Overall a very enjoyable place to learn and work.

Fairly well organised, I think they could have improved on have a development plan for there interns. I was lucky that I got to move into a more important and valued role, however other interns got stuck into their roles and didn't see much movement or transition into something with more responsibility.

The company took a risk with me by allowing me to move into a role where I made important decisions and drove sales to meet a target. To be honest this may have been a needs to a must, as they didn't have a replacement ready. However I feel like I excelled in the role and they are not hiring a replacement until I leave the company, so that must be a positive.

I have been told by my manager that he doesn't want me to leave and would give me a job tomorrow. However I don't feel as though working for a big company is for me. I would rather work for a smaller company and have more responsibilities and pressure. I feel like you can sometimes get lost in a big organisation.

We had a big group of interns at the company so this really helped in terms of networking and getting to know people. We would sit together at lunch and discuss our days, and also have parties and drinks on the weekend. This was one of the highlights of the internship and its great to have new friends to return to uni with.

I lived at home, Basingstoke itself is okay pricewise. You have expensive places and cheap places. The food in the canteen was not subsidised and this was really annoying, however there is a parade of shops with Tesco and fast food places nearby.

We would go for drinks on a Friday, however in terms of company activities there wasn't too much going on. They did badminton and football sometimes but these were on the off occasion. I would have liked something onsite you could attend for some fun post-work.