Audit Review

I was made to feel welcome from day 1 by my colleagues and was able to get involved in a number of interesting tasks throughout my internship. Each day was different, which I found to be particularly positive, because it meant that I gained an insight into a variety of aspects that the job would involve. They were understanding that I had not come from a business background, since my degree is biology and therefore gave me the support I required.

I got on very well with my colleagues and they made it evident when I had done a job well or had contributed towards the team. They made an effort to include me in activities outside of work and I genuinely felt like one of the team by the time my internship had finished. They were also willing to give me help and advice, despite the fact that they were busy with their own work.

I felt that I was given sufficient support during my internship, which included a meeting with my supervisor to discuss how I was finding the experience. I would however say that the majority of support was in fact provided by other colleagues rather than my supervisor, as they were often easier to contact. Perhaps weekly meetings with my supervisor may have been beneficial.

I found that towards the end of my internship, I was trusted with a larger amount of work and responsibility, which meant that days were busier. This was to be expected, but there were times, particularly in the first week, when I found that I did not have a lot to do, despite asking around for work. As a result, I found that I enjoyed my internship more towards the end, due to the fact that I had more to do and was able to get more involved.

The first couple of weeks involved similar tasks, which did mean that I improved on my attention to detail and consequently, was given a larger degree of responsibility to complete tasks with less guidance. As my internship was only one month, I understood that I would not be given much responsibility because I had to learn the basics to begin with. The final week brought a larger amount of responsibility, where I was set a task to complete independently, which contributed to the overall work completed by the team.

I was able to build on my numerical skills and my ability for attention to detail, both of which will be useful for my degree. I had not realised before just how useful good IT skills would be and as a result of my internship, I have been able to develop my computer skills, particularly within excel, a skill that most employers will require. The experience has also made me feel more confident about meeting new people and getting involved in a new working environment. I plan on continuing to build on these skills and apply for graduate schemes in this field.

The general atmosphere in the office was pretty quiet and I could tell that people were working hard to meet tight deadlines. However, it was not an uncomfortable kind of quiet. Towards lunch time people tended to become more chatty and I could tell that my colleagues enjoyed being at work. I was stationed in an area of younger people that were not much older than myself, which made it easier to speak to someone that was on a similar level.

At the beginning of my internship I was told what my time with the company would involve by my supervisor and generally that structure did occur. There were times however, when I felt like it could have been better organised, for example, I was told that in my second week I would be going out of the office to visit a client, when in fact this did not happen until my final week. Despite this, I did feel that I was given a full experience and was able to see all aspects of the job.

We were encouraged to complete the personal training exercises that were developed for the company and it was checked to ensure that we had done so. Since I was only there for a month, I only had the basic training, but I expect that more would have been done had I been there for longer.

I really enjoyed my time with the company and have continued to pursue a job with them. I felt that the environment suited me and that the level of support provided and also the focus on personal development, would be really beneficial for the development of my career. It is clear that the company care about their employees and make an effort to ensure that they enjoy their time at work.

Due to the nature of my internship, I only met one other student carrying out an internship. We got along well so made out own efforts to arrange things to do, particularly because I was on my own in a new city. It would have been nice to have met more people that were completing internships and share our experiences. I was invited to a couple of events with colleagues, such as leaving meals, which was nice to be included in.

I was working in Glasgow and the costs seemed reasonable, but due to the fact that I did not meet many other interns, I did not socialise as much as I had expected.

I did not experience the Nightlife during my time there, other than going out for meals, but due to the fact that it was a big city, I can imagine that there would be plenty to do.

Personally, I did not find that there were many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. I was invited to an office roller disco event, but other than that and a couple of meals, there did not seem to be much planned. This could have been due to the fact that I was only there for a month, since there did seem to be events that had been planned for the future.