EMEA Market Analysis Review

Intel is a great company to complete a placement at; they have a large intern community (~40/50 interns), majority in the Swindon office. This means there is always something going on with plenty of events planned by the intern committee, along with a variety of activities to get involved with within the company.

This really varied by team/ department/ role, and the effort each intern put into their role. My team have three interns every year and didn't seem overly interested in building connections with them, as they're used to the constant turn over of interns. In this sense it did just feel like we were just another group of interns. However, I felt values by most stakeholders who received my work.

My supervisor was always on hand and made himself available whenever I had any problems or questions. my manager was less available due to his busy schedule, however would rejig if there was anything important that I wanted to discuss. Other members of the team were also happy to help if I was struggling with work or understanding terminology.

I was very busy during my internship - but that was by choice, I filled my schedule with learning new skills, taking part in intern committees, events and improving my role. However, could have had less to do if that's what I wanted, other interns chose this route and spent more time networking.

As market analyst, I was responsible for handling and processing all data for the EMEA region from various third party data sources and became the go to person for any data requests. This was a daunting level of responsibility at the beginning of the internship, however soon became the norm and I was given the opportunity to pick up additional responsibilities.

Massively improved my data analysis skills, excel, PowerPoint, use of outlook and profession etiquette. These will all be helpful for final year and later on in my career. Received training on how to effectively present, which involved filming us before the session and watching back with the group while everyone provided constructive feedback. This session, among similar other ones, built my confidence.

The general atmosphere of the office was friendly and relaxed. There were very few colleagues that treated me as an intern or happy to help. The modern canteen was always open, and a great place to meet for informal chats and coffees or for a change of location to work. The office also had 2 table tennis tables, a fossball table and PS3, which contributed to the laid back environment.

The internship was well organised, there was an open day in April (3 months before starting the placement) for everyone to meet and learn more about the company. There was a lot of communication before the start of the internship about what to expect and the training was well planned, with schedules shared.

The company provide all employees (including interns) with a Lynda.com account so they can earn about any skills that interest them. Group training sessions around company products were arranged every now and then but would have liked more professional skills group training sessions. Personal development was tracked weekly with my on the job coach, where we would identify areas of improvement and find opportunities to work on these. Quarterly, I would sit down with my on the job coach and manager to discuss achievement from the previous quarter and goals for the next.

The company is great and offers a really good graduate salary, however the office is based in Swindon - where I did not enjoy living, and the office is a bit dated. There are a few modern sections of the office, however the desk layout is based on the old fashioned cube dividers format. It changes every year, however there's usually only enough grad roles for around 10% of interns, majority of which are in the business management group. This isn't great for those in technical roles or finance, as there is very little chance of receiving a grad offer.

There was a great social scene among the interns which made living in Swindon a lot better than it could have been. A big all intern get together was arranged every month, which included non-drinking events. While regular activities were arranged between smaller groups as well. The team I worked within was very social, we had monthly post work drinks and quarterly activities, such as paint-balling.

Cost of living was very cheap, however it was possible to end up in a small flat share paying a lot of money. There were options to spend little on rent or a lot. Old town was a great location for a reasonable price, the closer to the new town the cheaper - however not as nice or safe of an area. The price of socialising varied too, cheap places and expensive places to choose from.

Not many places big clubs, but also when in the clubs on weekdays they weren't very busy at all - need there to be a big intern night out to fill the space. Nice bars if you know where to go (mainly old town, new town have few nice places), which are usually very busy on weekends.

Intel has a sports and social club which constantly has events on to take part in with colleagues (and plus 1's) outside of work. Intel also has a football team which plays in a local league. There were plenty of local sports to take part in too, hockey, volleyball, 5 a-side etc.