Partner Marketing Manager Review

To say I enjoyed my internship at Microsoft would be an understatement. They gave me the opportunity to play to my strengths, push myself in areas I was less confident, and get stuck in to every activity I was involved in, which included differing amounts of responsibility. I loved every minute each part of my role, (including the admin!) and believe it has benefited not just my career, but my personal skills too.

I joined the team during a difficult time - two of the team were being made redundant, another was moving to another department and we also recruited a new team member. I'm a naturally bubbly and light hearted person, so I found it easy to bring the team together during these tough few weeks. After the changes had been made, we settled down as a team and I felt part of the Microsoft family! The reason I felt valued by my colleagues is because I measure value upon trust, and I can say with confidence that all members of my team gave me additional work and experience because they valued my presence in the team.

I was lucky to have two managers during my internship. My first manager started a new role 6 months into my internship. Even though both managers had totally different methods of managing a team, they both gave me the support I needed at the time. My first manager was more focussed on my personal development as I was new to the working lifestyle and operating in a large organisation, so to have personal support was really important to me and gave me comfort and support to perform in my role. During the second half of my internship, my second manager was more focussed on the professional elements of management. Again, by the time I had settled in and no longer required reassurance and didn't seek confidence from others, I was happy to start working on my professional and networking skills.

I can't remember a day where I had nothing to do, which is a good thing because I am a naturally busy person. If I have no tasks on my 'to-do list', I will find something to do. So I would definitely say I was busy, either with my direct role, or getting involved with extra curricular activities outside of my direct role. These helped me develop my personal skills, while play to my strengths working on causes that I was passionate about, such as organising charity events for our corporate charity. Both of my managers supported all the work that I completed, and despite getting involved in extra activities throughout the year, I still delivered on the projects that were required during my direct role.

Because my team valued me, I was given more responsibility than I was expecting. I understood the responsibilities of my role, which were sufficient and then I undertook additional responsibility when I was involved in any extra curricular activities. On top of this, I also received additional responsibility from any tasks that my team offered me during my time at Microsoft. I am motivated by responsibility, so in order to me to perform well and to my highest level, I require a high amount of responsibility (although some would call it stress!) this is when I am at my most productive.

You can work all your life and gain a limitless amount of professional training and skills, but no one can "teach" you life skills, you have to experience these. Microsoft understood this, so gave all interns mentoring and support which enabled them to strengthen any professional skills which would assist them in their future studies or career, and then gave interns the opportunity to take part in experiences which would help interns build on their life skills, such as team building, confidence and stepping outside your comfort zone.

Compared to other departments, the atmosphere when I joined Microsoft was not what I expected, but I understood that I had joined the team during a difficult time. However, throughout the year the atmosphere did not improve all that much, and too much of my time was spent trying to "fix" the atmosphere in the team rather than having fun with my team. I did know that some of the team were unhappy with the changes that had been made (redundancies) and that others were looking for alternative employment, which did reduce the since of team morale a little.

The organisation of my internship was super, considering the conditions of the company when I joined. People were being made redundant, my manager was changing and the company was acquiring Nokia, so I did join at a time of change (and there was a lot of it about!). So when I take all of this into consideration, the organisation and support during my internship was flawless and more importantly, continuous. It's easy to assume that during such as a major transition in a large organisation like Microsoft, that the little people (also known as interns) can fade into the background which "more important" matters are being seen to, but I never felt like the internship had lost focus or was unorganized.

Microsoft invest in an intern as much as the intern invests in itself. It's up to the intern to get up and get out there, in order to feel the benefits of Microsoft. This includes attending team building off-sites, joining societies, working on extra curricular activities outside of your direct role. Microsoft present the opportunity for them to invest in you, and it's up to you to take it with both hands. I took as many of these opportunities as I felt appropriate and I can safely say that it was worth it.

I would love to have the opportunity to work for Microsoft UK again in the near future.

Microsoft UK gave us the opportunity to have socials as interns which helped us make new friends and build new connections across the team. We had three compulsory socials during the year, one at the starts, mid-year and end of our placements to celebrate the success that we had achieved during the year.

My rent was £300 per month, and bills were £50 per month. Microsoft UK societies cost me £30 per month and any socials I took part in would be £20 per month.

I attended the University of Reading so I was familiar with the night and social life in Reading compared to interns who had come from other universities. I love Reading's night life as you feel safe and the town isn't too large so it's difficult to get lost!

Microsoft UK gave us every opportunity to get involved in various societies outside of our direct role. I joined the rock climbing and wake boarding society, which helped me cross collaborate with other teams and make new friends.