Sales Support Review

Working at Oracle was really good. I worked in tech Sales so no two days were the same and they kept the mundane tasks to a minimum. On top of this, there are loads of opportunities to do things not directly related to your job role. This is one part of the placement I really liked because it gave me the opportunity to see other parts of the business.

I felt very valued. My team really tried to include me right from day 1 which was good. Not only this but people not directly on my team but who I still worked with were really inclusive too. Going to both London and Reading offices I felt comfortable and that I could talk to anyone.

My managers both gave all the support if I needed it. I always knew I could go to my team and managers for help if I ever needed it and that was made very clear to me. On top of this Oracle also have a mentor program and y mentor worked in the same line of business as me so I always knew I could go to him for help with tasks assigned me and with getting more work.

A lot of my work was project-based. This meant there were some deadlines which can stress people out but this helped me with time management. By improving my time management, I found most days I had just enough work to do that I wasn't bored but also not too much work that I was stressed and working late. That being said, there are some days where you have more work to do so work a bit later, but that usually means that you have a quieter/easier day to balance it out.

To start off the year I was given smaller tasks to do mainly involved in making sales plays and assisting my team. Then as the year went on I was given more responsibility and bigger projects to manage. I liked it this way as it was good to ease into it rather than being thrown in at the deep end.

At the start of the year, I set myself 4 skills I wanted to develop which included networking and presentation skills. There were numerous courses put on throughout the year for presentation skills which really helped me improve. Also, there were so many networking opportunities throughout the year. Both these skills will help me next year at uni and in my future life.

The general atmosphere was very relaxed, welcoming and friendly. Walking into the office, you feel as if you can talk to anyone. Everyone is very friendly and it doesn't have a strict feel when you're there. You can also work anywhere in the building so if you feel uncomfortable at your desk you can sit in the coffee shop downstairs for a while which can be nicer.

They have a handover period where the previous interns work with you to help you start your placement. This is a really helpful period to help set you up for the year. They also have a dedicated HR person who looks after us which makes everything a lot easier as she is good at her job and hs regular one to ones with us to make sure we are all okay.

Opportunities to develop a lot of skills. For example, there are online learning portals we have access to such as LinkedIn learning. There have also been lots of opportunities to go on courses to develop skills. For example, we had a zoom course, a presentation skills course, and a visual communications course.

Yes. There were 50 interns spread out across the two offices and many of us weren't from Reading so we all got in contact before the placement to sort out accommodation. This means there are a few interns who lived together which definitely made the experience a lot more fun.

Yes. There are things going on all the time, especially charity work. It is so easy to get involved in them as they are all advertised on slack and you just sign up online. There is a whole range of things to do, from working in a soup kitchen to doing Palace to Palace.