International Treasury Intern Review

Overall, the placement was a good experience. I worked with several teams and I was involved in several projects. I was assigned my own project as well towards the end of the placement, which increased my confidence. In the beginning I struggled to get used to the working environment but after a couple of months things started to get better.

As an international student, I found it difficult to integrate myself in the environment at The Body Shop due to the small percentage of employees from other countries. Due to the cultural differences I might have not always felt valued by my colleagues but in the last months of the placement the relationship with my colleagues slightly improved.

Support and guidance was given by management almost all times, but I did not have the freedom to manage my own work and had to report everything I did to my manager, even 10 minutes meetings. While at University, most of my work is managed by me and I found it difficult to get used to the micro management style present at the company I worked for. I did not always felt comfortable to ask questions.

In the beginning I was only assigned small tasks and I was not too busy. In time, more and more small projects were assigned to me and my days started to get busier. I consider this was the right approach from the company, as it allowed me the time necessary to get used to the working environment.

I was assigned several projects and also had to do forecasting every day and help with the month end processes. I worked in the Finance department and I had great responsibility considering I was the only person working on those projects. I think this was very beneficial for my development and increased my self esteem.

During my placement I developed skills like: communication, presentation and time management skills etc. All these will surely help me not only in my career development but also increased my confidence and will help me with interviews and assessment centers in the future. However, the skills I have developed will not necessarily help me in my University degree. The most important part about doing a placement is being able to figure out what you want to do in the future.

People were generally friendly and the overall atmosphere was very casual. There is no dress code at The Body Shop which might sometimes make people forget that they are actually working in a multi national company, and for this fact I do not consider it is necessarily a good thing.

I consider that the company I worked for was not too well organised. When I arrived, most of my colleagues did not know that I was going to arrive and I was the only intern starting that day. In addition, many of the processes were manual in the Finance department and some of the work we were doing every day was not manual in other companies (eg. forecasting)

There was an online course available to all employees but I did not always felt comfortable using it as my colleagues were not considering it useful. I also had to report to my manager every time I used it, which I did not feel comfortable in doing. In terms of investment, the company did not provide any other training or courses to interns.

I will not consider future employment prospects at The Body Shop firstly because of the area where it is located and secondly because of the non-multicultural environment. However, I would consider applying for the same company in their office in London, but there are only some departments located there.

During my placement I lived with other interns; I made some friends and I also learned a lot about people. Volunteering activities, nights out, meetings and a project were organised with the other interns. The project involved the creation of a presentation about the internship for the next set of interns.

Considering the area where the office was located, the cost of living was quite high. The rents were similar to a place like Birmingham or Manchester and the price of food was the same as in any other place in England. In terms of socializing, the prices in pubs were the same as all across England.

The main office of The Body Shop is located in Littlehampton, a small town across the coast. There are not too many things to do in the town, and therefore not many things to do after work. Events during evenings were organised in Worthing which was 20-30 minutes away from Littlehampton.

There were many volunteering opportunities outside of work. The company gives employees 3 paid days every year for volunteering activities, in which I was involved with my team and with the entire Finance department. It was a great way for getting to know colleagues better and socialize outside work. The volunteering activities also improved the relations among colleagues.