Segment Sales Intern Review

I have had a lack of work at some points due to complications at the beginning of my placement, however despite this the work has been interesting and informative about the industry and I have enjoyed working at a company that is involved with the industry that I was learning about in my university degree

Since I was not aligned to the manager of my major team, I was not as involved with the team as much as I would have been liked, leading to not as much work being assigned to me as I wanted. However I have been involved with other areas of the business too and have become more familiar with my manager's team more closely over time.

The support I got given from my team manager and my official manager was great. They have helped me find more work, helped me figure out what job roles I want to focus on and helped me get further opportunities, outside of my job role, while at HPE. Overall has really helped me understand what job opportunities I have open to me.

The amount of work I would get fluctuated a lot. Some days I would be very busy and other days I would not have anything to do aside from my daily/weekly tasks. This is a unique issue for me as I was not fully aligned to one team but only partially to multiple. I know other interns doing the same role as me for other segments were busy and had a good amount of work.

I think we was given a good amount of responsibilities during the placement. The reports I ran seems to make an impact in the team and allows them to progress with their deal closures, therefore our contribution can be crucial to the team. For example we created the files that the managers work off of during their business reviews to see the progress of our deals.

I think the skills I have developed over this year will really help me out through my studies and into future work. Having knowledge of the industry and business in general will make me more attractive to businesses in the industry. I have also received training on some programs a.g. salesforce and Eclipse, which could prove useful in future job opportunities.

The office can be a bit quiet sometimes, however since HPE hire a lot of interns the atmosphere of the office is quiet lively and informal, which makes for a more comfortable work environment. We also hot desk, which allows us to move around in the office and are not suck in one place all the time. We also have the ability to work from home from time to time which can be helpful when getting into work is difficult.

One major advantage about the HPE internship is that we have a month worth of handover with the old interns, so we can learn how to do the role effectively. This is very helpful as it means the training is more personal and allows you to work at your own pace with the previous intern. Due to changes in the working of segment sales during my first month, it was a bit confusing what tasks we would be given after our handover was over, and these weren't always communicated well from the higher ups but once it was clear, it was easy to pick up.

HPE have a mentoring systems where a permanent employee at the company is selected as your mentor. They help you with personal development of weaknesses and finding out your strengths and finding opportunities within HPE that could help you e.g. shadowing other departments, going to external meetings etc.... They also aid us with understanding what we want to do in the future, which was very valuable to me as I was not very sure what path I wanted to take in the future.

I am very interested about coming back to HPE. I like the company and the atmosphere and I believe I have learnt a lot about the company throughout the year which can be very useful if I want to come back. I am currently in the process of discovering what graduate/early careers jobs are available at HPE and hopefully there are some that cater to what job role I want to end up in.

The social scene was very vibrant, there are 40+ interns in my office so it has a very young atmosphere. They often organise nights out and sorts events as well. We also have an intern ball at the end of the year which is a good way of winding down the year and saying goodbye to everyone.

Reading is quite an expensive area as it is quite close to London. However rent prices are not too high so it is more viable to live in Reading then in Bracknell as there are more housing opportunities as it is a university town. I managed to get a place with decent rent price and no bill cost, so I think I was lucky with my housing, however it was a long commute to work as I can't drive.

There is not really any nightlife in Bracknell, however most of the interns live in/near Reading so it is easier to go out there. The nightlife is average with some good bars/clubs in the centre of town. However going out is not my cup of tea, so I am not knowledgeable about the subject.

Reading is very close to London so days out there are very popular and is affordable at the weekend. Reading has good train/bus links to many places so it is easy for going places. Reading is a nice town for shopping and eating out as well. Overall I think it great for outside activities. Outside activities regarding work, there are chances to do volunteering and charity work, which can be a good break from the office and day to day work.