Solution Engineer Intern Review

This placement was better than what I imagined it'd be. There's so much opportunity for growth within and outside of your job role. My manager made every effort to assist in my personal development, and the placement coordinator was so kind and caring to all of us interns. I couldn't have asked for more.

The colleagues within my team have all been very kind and caring. They made special effort in getting to know me as a person - especially the buddy that I was assigned for the whole year. I also had weekly 1-2-1s with my manager which allowed me to relate to her and also share what I liked and disliked about my role. The only thing that I disliked was being given some admin tasks and jobs that people didn't want occasionally.

With my weekly 1-2-1s, my assignment of a buddy and the provision of a mentor, I felt very supported. If I ever had an issue, I always had someone to talk to which I found so useful. If I ever felt overwhelmed, there were plenty of people around me ready to talk and support me.

To begin with, work was pretty slow and I'd have to look for tasks which was uncomfortable. However, I now realise that I was lucky that it was slow because it gave me time to process and understand things. Now I have something to do everyday and I'm busy pretty much everyday. If things get quiet, I can always ask around for work and there's always something.

There's very little micromanaging involved. My manager would set me a task and just allow me to do whatever I thought was correct. Unless I had any questions, I was often left to my own device which I quite liked. It helped me to understand how I worked and gain confidence in my own ideas.

I think a placement is so essential before starting work after graduating. It has given me skills that my degree couldn't have taught me and given me room to challenge myself, fail and grow. The skills you gain on a placement are invaluable for your studies and beyond your degree.

As there were quite a lot of interns on my floor, we often sat around each other and we got to talk and laugh and work together closely. There were regular employees around too - it would've been better if we could've had more interaction with employees outside of interns also.

Within my team, each intern was assigned specific roles and had tasks to do which aligned with that role. This gave my placement a lot of structure. Along with this, the placement supervisor planned a lot of activities, workshops and training for us to attend which meant that every day was exciting and different.

The company definitely invested in my training and development to the fullest extent. Being provided with a mentor, a buddy and having weekly 1-2-1s meant that people could see how I was doing and advise me on how to improve. We've also been offered to have mock interviews to practice for when we leave and look for jobs in the future.

At the moment, there weren't a lot of graduate placements being advertised in the UK. However, Oracle has started to expand their graduate opportunities. Networking is also key. If you can connect with the right people and work well, you can open yourself up to the opportunity of coming back in the future.

When we managed to have socials, everyone was very friendly and welcoming. All of the interns were excited to get to know each other and work together. Naturally, groups did form which made it slightly more difficult to get to know each other very well. However, all of the interns were kind and there was no hostility or rudeness between anyone. Overall, the interns chosen gelled well

The rent prices were quite high but the salary compensated for this.

The nightlife appealed to some, but not all - we didn't get a lot of time to experience this due to COVID-19