Marketing Project Manager Review

Working at Microsoft has been a real pleasure. Like any job there are its good bits and bad bits. Microsoft really knows how to look after their staff from the discounts we get through to the huge events Microsoft organise. In the job there are times where I felt like the work I was doing would never see the light of day in this huge machine and on other days my work would be sighted as something that other full time employees should emulate, it’s all a compromise.

My team made me feel right at home, they were really supportive and friendly. At times when the financial reporting of the products got a bit heavier I felt a bit out of touch but that was only because I didn’t own a product and couldn’t relate to the work they were doing at the point.

My manager was a legend, really approach able and supported anything I wanted to get involved with. He also showed a real enthusiasm for helping me to get the most I could out of the year.

Again given the project management role I did this varied which was nice. During the busy months there were times that I felt under pressure but this helps you develop. I was never bored at Microsoft because they are so open for you to explore areas of the business that you have an interest in and take part in working groups that are designed to explore a topic or project. However it’s all too easy to overfill your plate and then get overwhelmed!

I was given a decent amount of responsibility when I started in that I was given some really meaty projects to get my teeth into, once I felt like I was on top of these I went to my manager and asked for more. It couldn’t have been better.

This experience has taught me so much. My manager guided me through my development from a role perspective but he also encouraged me to get a mentor who has helped me think about life after University. Overall I have developed my understanding of personal branding, networking, and found out what it is like to work for a company filled with insanely intelligent people. Setting the benchmark for where I need to be in the future. The training Microsoft provides is outstanding! 2 courses stand out, the 2 day presentation course which has improved my presenting style immensely and the workload management course which showed me how to handle vast amounts of email and delegate my time to handle the offshoots of these emails.

My team worked with Server, the product wasn’t the ‘coolest’ but they were all really friendly and Microsoft on the whole has a pretty exciting vibe about it.

It’s not just me who says this is the best internship in the country! More emphasis should be placed on mentoring for interns when they start and then continuing this throughout the year but we have given this feedback and I understand the management are working to make this happen for future interns.

The training i The training I received was brilliant and if I wanted to take a course to enhance a certain area of my skill set I know my manager would have been right behind me.

I am open to exploAt this stage in my career I am open to exploring a number of different options but in the future if Microsoft has the right job for me and they are willing to have me back I wouldn’t’ hesitate at all.

There were 70 odd of us so we couldn’t have asked for better. Microsoft offers subsidised trips that Interns are welcome to get involved in and there is a budget for a Christmas and Summer Ball for the inter community. While Reading isn’t amazing London is on the door step and the social is what you make it!

Reading isn’t cheap but it’s not super expensive. The salary you are paid is reasonable as long as you are sensible

Pretty repetitive but the social is what you make it. There’s 3 ‘clubs’ in Reading which are more like bar/clubs. There’s a few decent places for a social drink though which was good and London’s only 25 mins on the train… with 70 of us all living together in different houses there was always something going on. We organised paintballing, go karting and camping trips away

In my year at Microsoft I went: sailing, travelled to Berlin and Lille, paintballing, squash, go karting, orienteering, river cruise on the Thames, Summer ball, rugby, football and many many more