Human Resources Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my role at HP over the past year. I've had great exposure into multiple areas of my department which I didn't realise when I started. I've also been able to work with multiple other departments due to my role. This has not only helped me learn about my role and expected tasks, but to expand my network and exposure to the rest of the business.

I feel very valued by my colleagues. I've been in direct contact with everyone since day one and I am even more integrated into the team a year later. It has been easy to integrate into my team, but also the teams of other interns in the business. I have often had praise and thanks for my hard work and visibility within the office, and I believe this has helped me out in my growing as a student, an employee and as a person.

My manager/ supervisor has always been available for a chat, email or message conversation. I've had direct handovers and training, lead through specific paths, which have been monitored and encouraged during my placement. They are aware that I'm not only here to work, but also to learn about my field of education. I know I can also talk to my manager/ supervisor about anything at any time if I need to discuss anything personal too. Any and all situations have been treated with great respect and fairness, regardless of the context.

I often find that my days are taken up working on multiple projects and programmes, finding information and looking into ways we, as a business can improve our workplace and business. This means I'm always doing something, and often have to allocate my time wisely. This is also matched by the extra curricular activities i am involved in, as these allow me to take part in events and charity fundraisers.

I have been given a lot of opportunities to lead and help manage many events within the office, as well as helping to run and be a useful 'admin' type member of the team. This has allowed me to take responsibility for projects in time critical situations, and to learn how important confidentiality, and employee relations can be.

My university sent me a list of skills they expected their placement students to complete or improve on during the year, and I can happily say that I have improved on all of those included, and many more. My focus areas were: presentations, communication, excel and time management. Working in a fast paced and very varied intern role has allowed me to improve in many personal and professional areas. This also applies to the extra training facilities and opportunities I have been given from my workplace. I believe this has helped me towards improving my degree and overall professionalism as I can reflect on what I have learnt and improved on moving forwards. I can now apply theory to the real world and vice versa.

Very open and friendly. All the employees I've come across will smile, wave and have general chit chat/ conversations with me and many other interns every day. We are all treated equally and well respected at HP, regardless of the job role or level you may have.

The first part of my placement was very well planned and structured, as I had set meetings and trainings to complete. After the first few months, when I was familiar with our processes and procedures, I then became more involved in multiple projects and programs. This then lead to me creating and organising a lot of my personal timetable to work alongside the workload. This has also followed structure and organised time allocations as I still need to manage my time and prioritise ad-hoc tasks.

I have been offered internal and external training and development opportunities over the year, to improve my skills and understanding, but to also expand my networking. This is shown through my attending meetings from another department in the business. I've been able to learn and meet new people through these weekly meetings, allowing me to develop further.

I feel that there are great opportunities and plenty of areas of growth and development within HP Inc. This can be for all departments, whether you're a fully employed individual or a contract worker. I often see jobs being made available for multiple levels and departments, which leads me to think that future employment is a high possibility. I also understand that the network I have created this year has a slight impact on my employability and hope that this might prove useful when looking for a role in years to come, within HP as well as out. I believe HP is a very fair employer that looks after their employees to the best of their ability.

Our placement year group could not have been any better. We have all worked together to raise our target money for the company charity of choice and to help host internal office events. Not only have we been a great team, but we all love having a good laugh and get together after work, or at the weekends. Although we are all very different and individually unique, we merge so well, and all have a mutual respect and love for one another. Our social events and meets are always so happy, I will definitely miss my fellow placement students next year.

As we lived rather close to London, I believe the cost of living and socialising is very reasonable. Upon moving down to Reading, I was expecting to see many things, eating out, going to social events, paying for bills and rent. I'm happy to say, things weren't as expensive as anticipated.

As a student, Reading is a rather good place for a night out. There are multiple night clubs and a good amount of pubs. I have really enjoyed each night out, as all the nightclubs seem to have a slightly different vibe/ theme to them.

All of our interns have worked together to create a social life and atmosphere that is inviting to all those in our group. There have also been many chances and events involving work colleagues, including leaving do's, Christmas parties and many more.