Sales Associate Review

I really enjoyed my internship at Oracle, it is an exciting company to be a part of but you do need to be willing to find your own work and create your own opportunities as it is very much a self service organisation. Oracle are only within their 2nd year of taking interns so the programme can only get even better!

I do not believe that interns are valued at Oracle the same as normal employees. There have been many small occasions where you think to yourself 'would they have asked me to do that if I was not an intern?' Which I don't think should be a question you have to ask. I felt valued by my team, but as a whole, I don't feel Oracle value their interns the same as full time employees.

Having a senior manager worried me at the beginning of my internship, thinking that he wouldn't have time for me. However, I couldn't have been more wrong. My manager was an excellent mentor with frequent support and guidance. Every month we completed a review which was a great way of setting goals and making achievements.

On a daily basis it varied, sometimes extremely busy, other times very quiet. At the end of each quarter it tended to be quiet as people tended to be too busy to have time for an intern. However, the majority of the time there would be some work to do.

You wouldn't be given much responsibility, just small parts of responsibility. You tend to get given small parts of responsibility within different projects. However, on the other hand some interns had great responsibility such as organising and running an event. I think interns should be given more ownership of projects which would therefore result in more responsibility.

The skills you learn on placement are so valuable. You simply do not learn what you learn on placement at university. Presentation skills, excel skills, and soft skills are all aspects you will learn and improve on while at Oracle. All the skills you learn at Oracle are transferable to future life and career.

The Reading office at Oracle is a ghost town. It is a huge office with barley anybody in. I was frequently the only person from my team in and it was only the fact that there were other interns in the office it wasn't completely dead for me. The London office is much busier on the other hand.

The programme is only 2 years old so there is still a lot of room for improvement. The onboarding process is poorly done, with many different issues when setting up IT. Training is also lacking in that initial set up, there should be mandatory training in place such as Excel. When you start, your laptops should be fully up and ready so you can get going from day 1 and it would also be nice to receive a welcome pack with Intern t-shirts and pens etc.

Personal development and training is huge at Oracle. Oracle have their own university so the options are endless. I completed many courses during my internship as well as webex trainings. You develop massively over the year, having monthly reviews with your manager to ensure that you are developing and meeting goals.

It would depend on the team but Oracle is somewhere I would consider returning. It is a huge company which has its pros and cons. There are lots of employee bonuses that you get that you don't as an intern which is another pull. Oracle is also a company on the up so it's an exciting place to be with the transformation to cloud.

Interns regularly socialised

The Reading area is farily priced. However, when in London that is obviously more expensive. Yet, Oracle do expense any travel and lunches out side of the office you're based in. Rent can be expensive depending on the area. It could have been quicker to live outside of Reading and commute in rather commuting within reading.

There are quite a few clubs in reading, Lola, Q Club, Popworld, Sub89, and also bars such as the mighty purple turtle, revs, walkabout and spoons. It is a uni city so it isn't very expensive which makes it good for a night out as it doesn't cost too much.

There are some opportunities such as Oracle Football. There was a tournament in Europe however it was self funded. There are many societies and groups that you can get involved with and there is a day where all the activities are showcased to the employees so you know what's available.