Program Support Review

My Year has been an excellent one. I've been involved in a huge range of projects and been able to network with many areas of the department. I was given a good amount of responsibility but not overloaded to the point I would be stressing out each week. The only reason I've not given it a higher rating is because the job role wasn't what I expected and isn't really the career path I want to go down. I felt at times my strengths weren't being utilized, however, the experience has still been massively valuable and it's been a privilege to work for such a big organisation.

I believe that certain colleagues valued me right from the start. My manager gave me work on the first day and always made sure I tasks to do. My opinion was always valued in meetings which made me feel part of the team. However I do think with other employees around the business it took a lot more time before they saw me as valuable. I'd struggle to get replies or a useful response to emails from some people and this did make the job a challenge at times. But overall as the placement went on this became less frequent.

I can't fault my manager. She was incredibly helpful at all the times. I was given tasks but if I needed any help she'd be happy to sit down and go through the work for me. My manager also understood that the role was not exactly what I was hoping for and allowed me to go out and find work from other areas I was more interested. It made me feel she wasn't just supporting my role but actually supporting me and my career aspirations. Our intern supervisor also did a good job of keeping us in the know and directing us to the right people to help.

I'd say I always had jobs on the go. I was pretty busy but maybe some of the tasks were quite basic which could make it a bit boring at times. Occasionally I was just inputting data into spreadsheets but I had a variety of tasks to get on with all the time so I just broke them up and did a little bit of the tasks each day. At some points of the year however I was swamped and had to prioritize to hit the deadlines.

I was given a lot of responsibility at Oracle. I became project manager of one project that I took on at the start. The project lasted the entire year so I always had responsibility. This was an extra project outside my day job. When it comes to my day job the responsibility was mixed, usually I was just supporting my manager but occasionally I'd be tasked with going to events around the country and give tech demos to customers. So I do feel I was trusted and given responsibility.

Unfortunately, my job role isn't the career I want to go down. The role wasn't exactly what I expected and I was hoping to be a bit more involved in the sales. So it terms of skills in finance and accounting, I received virtually no experience in this. However, I definitely learnt a lot about the way companies work and will have developed soft skills like communication, public speaking and team-work. Additionally being project manager taught me a lot about leading a team which willl be valuable in whatever career I end up. Oracle also offer free access to a huge number of training courses which I regret not taking advantage of more. I think I could have come out with a few more certifications here.

The atmosphere was also great. Everyone was very friendly and happy to talk. Their didn't seem like there was much of a hierarchy at times as bosses would sit with us and instead of cornered off in their office. At times the office was quite quiet but this was nice when you needed to get on with work.

My job personally was very good. The role was flexible. However as a whole I think it can be improved. Once we'd been offered the job we didn't hear anything from Oracle for a few months. Contracts took an incredibly long time to come to us and it got to the point where I had to email them to confirm I had actually got the role. However once we'd actually got the support was very good from Oracle staff but I think in some areas of the business there were an excess of interns and some people had very little to do. The company that pays us and sorts our holidays however was not very good. We'd always receive different answers to questions which caused a lot of confusion.

We were given lots of opportunities to come to events that focused on our public speaking, social media presence and other soft skills. We also had free access to a huge library of training courses that we were encouraged to do during working hours. Our intern leader also set up meetings with country leaders from around the business to give us exposure to variety of jobs.

There was a few employees there who had been interns previously so it is an option if you want to. It's very dependent on head count for the year and role you want to go into. There isn't much of a graduate program yet but I believe this is something they are working on.

Reading has enough to offer in terms of a nightlife. A being just a short train ride from London, it's very easy to get over a experience nightlife in London if you're bored of Reading. My year interns had a great social life. There were about 50 of us and I felt like as the placement went on the interns got a lot closer and started going on more nights together however its very dependent on how much effort you put in. If you want it to be sociable then it can be. Does't always have to be a drinking social either, we had a 5aside football team that played just down the road.

I was in Reading and living was about £510 a month rent/bills. Pubs and clubs were standard southern prices. £4 pints roughly and and maybe £7 for a double. Some clubs cost £5/10 on entry and others were free. You can live cheaply there and in relation to your salary its not too bad. If you're London based then obvs it is more expensive.

It has a very standard nightlife. It's not particularly good but its not that bad. Some of the clubs are like your standard ones, vodka revs / Q club / popworld. Then they do have a few others which aren't too bad. There are some decent pubs and bars around so in my opinion, considering you're working week days so you wont be out as much as university, it's certainly good enough. If it isn't, London is on your doorstep.

There are loads of charity and volunteering events that you can get involved in. Tough Mudder, Palace to Palace bike ride, the yomp. These are three that I'd highly recommend if you like physical activity. It's a great way to network with colleagues, it's fun, and at the same time you're making money for charity. They also have a green team that works in making the world greener. There is a wellbeing team to help promote better physical and mental health. There are also internal groups for dog and cat lovers. There are activities for everything.