Sales operations specialists Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Microsoft. The opportunity to reach around the company was very useful and allowed me to understand the breadth of how Microsoft operates. People are always willing to help you and tell you about themselves which was a great learning exoerience for me. Depending on the work, you can have an easy ride or difficult time.

I didn't feel that valued by my colleagues from my immediate team. Mostly because they were so busy and had a lot of high up responsibility. However, having said that, the work I did for other people around the company really valued my time and help. It entirely depends on how you decide to spread your workload.

Guidance and support as an intern wasn't amazing. As I said, they all have day jobs and work that is important. Therefore the time spent investing into interns is the trade-off. However, this is depending on the team and sector of the business you are in. My team happened to not be as supportive as other teams I have heard of or worked with.

I was fairly busy every day. There was always something to do on a day to day basis and there was never a time where I didn't have work. Having said this, there were peaks and troffs in my role. I got busy during certain times of the year and other times where there was less workload.

The work I was doing was quite important. Sometimes I'd be left to my own devices to complete tasks and projects. There was a big element of trust put into me and this meant that there was a lot of responsibility. Some of the work I did went around the senior leadership team which was good.

I gained a lot of transferable skills during my placement which will help me with my studies. Things like time management, communication skills, project management skills and presentation skills are all skills that I have learnt and will develop to help me in my studies at at final year university.

The atmosphere was varied with some parts of the year being busy and other parts being quiet. There usually is a buzz around the office during the end of the quarters but at the begining of Q1 in the summer the office can be really quiet and empty where there is not much buzz.

It was pretty well organised, each interns time at Microsoft is split between 70% Job role 20% stretch projects and 10% personal development. This enables me to do lots of extra things outside my job role which helped me develop and gain new skills which I can use for years to come

It is becoming a lot easier for interns to convert into graduates when they finish Microsoft. I believe they are setting up a program which enables current interns to choose which part of the business they want to go into as a graduate role should they choose to do one.

As there was 57 interns the social scene was really good. Lots of socials were happening and we were all one tight community. There was also an intern committee which brought all the interns together to help them develop and grow as people during their time at Microsoft. This encouraged socialisation

Cost of living is quite expensive as it is quite close to London. But better than London. People usually pay around £400-600pcm for a house/flat share in reading. Which is about 40-50% of your wage. So not entirely bad but still quite expensive. Drinks are relatively cheaper in reading than they are in London but not dirt cheap. Not like university's that are up north.

Night life was ok. There are lots of bars in reading and a few night clubs. And London is only a 30 mimntrain journey so either way there is always things to do which can encourage nightlife and socialising. There are also lots of cocktail 2-4-1 deals which helps alot!

There are lots of clubs to be involved in outside of work. Things such as football and volyball, hockey and sailing. Anything which has interest invested by at least 10 people can create their own activity or club outside of work and be involved in sports activities. The football group was particularly cool as you get to travel to Athens to compete in a tournament