Systems Integration Specialist Review

You will find that no 2 days are ever the same, with plenty of opportunities to get really involved available if you want to get the most out of your time.

Very well on the whole - lots of adjustments as a team were made during my time here, but for the people I worked closely with/the most, I was treated as an equal.

My line manager is undoubtedly the best manager I have ever had - ensuring I was well-equipped and armed with the appropriate knowledge was never a task too small for him, and we had regular one-to-one meetings to discuss performance, any available opportunities and general well-being. He was never afraid to place trust in me and gave me the platform to take on as much, or as little responsibility as I wanted.

There were lulls when there wasn't much project specific work on, but there was often opportunities to do different things in the team, or to help/work with other teams (granted my manager was in favour of this maybe more than most) and I rarely came to work in a morning in the knowledge that there would be nothing to do all day.

Way more than I was ever expecting; I ran the business review for the justification of a SW release into the entirety of the EMEA region, then singlehandedly ran this release for my relevant carriers across the same region. I have had a lot of involvement in device projects, my own SME work, was made Technical Lead for a group of carriers to handle all their technical queries, and matters that relate to key big business decisions.

All the 'soft' skills I have learned through my past employment transferred to BlackBerry, and I feel they have gone some way to developing further, particularly in working with external carriers to manage, what were at times, some difficult relationships. As part of my degree is technology-based, and technology is certainly a big part of my projected career path, the technical knowledge gained in relation to telecommunications and its core foundations will undoubtedly stand me in good stead moving forward.

It was vibrant and friendly during the first few months, but due to organisational-wide downsizing it got progressively downbeat for a while. Things started picking up towards the end however, as stability was regained and the general office space was condensed to mean more people sitting together and interacting from different teams.

My manager arranged a clear set of objectives, running across 2x six month periods, with a review for each. There was plenty of work and opportunities and the progression of the placement's organisation developed ad-hoc as the business and my skill set did.

I would rate this only slightly higher than half on the basis my manager pushed me and invested as much time in me as I wanted, and where possible. In relation to training from the business, this was very little, as a lot of what you will learn comes from online training but also learning on the job, doing things as you go along.

This is difficult to say - the restructuring has made the situation different but I believe wholeheartedly that if the opportunity were to present itself for a graduate in my team, that I would be a candidate. Across the business, there are graduates joining also in other teams.

In terms of inter-intern socialness, students tried to organise get togethers, drinks etc. and social events were possible. This is however difficult to rate on the basis that this relates to the cohort of interns currently at the business. In relation to my team, we often went out for lunch/dinner, drinks, nights out in London, sporting events etc. which was great and a good chance to get to know and befriend people on a personal level outside of a working environment.

Being based fairly close to London, costs of living are naturally are higher but I wouldn't say horrendous (as may be the case with C. London), and moreover your pay is relevant to this as a result, so it was neither extortionate or inexpensive.

The office is based in Slough has ZERO nightlife; however, most interns tend to live in Reading/Maidenhead, which as places are more geared towards students, a social life etc. with bars, clubs, pubs, restaurants, shops etc., so definitely would recommend living there (if you don't mind a 40-mile round trip on the shocking M4!!! :) )

Lots of opportunities to get involved in CSR, volunteering, sports teams etc. which is really great to get to know other people across the office in different teams who you wouldn't normally get to interact with on a daily basis inside the office/working environment.