Business Management/Finance Intern Review

I enjoyed it a lot, I would go as far as to say that transferring to the year in industry course from the standard 3 year BSc Economics was one of the best decisions I have ever made. Mostly, I think this was to do with the fact that I was put in a great team of people.

I was made to feel valued from day 1, both by my colleagues and the company. Once I had been trained I was trusted to go about my day and get my work done alone. At first it was difficult and I did need guidance fairly regularly, but overall it really helped me. All of the work I did was for the team around me, the clients we serviced and the company as a whole, so I could always see how my work was being valued. At the same time, my colleagues always treated my like a regular member of staff.

I was given a huge amount of support by my managers. They would leave me to do my own thing and do my job by myself, but if a problem ever occurred that I couldn't necessarily solve on my own, for example if there was a complaint or query coming from a client or another member of staff that I couldn't deal with, or didn't feel comfortable dealing with, then my manager would jump in straight away to help out.

Workload varied based on the time of year and also what I was doing at the time. My first rotation was on more hands-on day-to-day work so the workload came in waves. I would generally be more busy at the end of a month, and particularly at the end of a quarter but sometimes there wasn't much work at all. I then moved on to working on more long-term project-based roles which meant that I was busy most of the time, although my manager always made sure in our meetings that I wasn't being overloaded.

I was given a huge amount of responsibility. The team I worked for handled incoming cash from customers, which meant that I was responsible for large sums of money. One of my projects involved identifying aged unidentified cash in the system, which involved checking every detail of a payment, making sure my findings were correct with relevant evidence and then making a decision on how to deal with the problems.

The skills I developed assist me in my degree all the time. For a start, I am much more disciplined and strict with myself when it comes to working and I am not afraid to hold up my hand and ask for help when I don't understand. I'm much more assertive when it comes to problems in everyday life, even with things like ringing my landlord the moment we notice small problems. I have become much more involved at university so that I can somewhat replicate the busy routine I had on placement, as the daily organisation and time-management that I had to do made sure that all my work was done on time and to a high standard.

You could normally tell the time of year based on the atmosphere. At busier times like Q-close and year end then it was generally much more subdued and more work-focused. The rest of the time though it was really friendly; people would always talk to you in the kitchen so networking was really easy and everybody was really friendly.

It was set up really well in my opinion. My projects basically were decided based on what was needed. In December there was a lot of cash that needed identifying, so that was the project I was put on, whereas in my final rotation there were errors cropping up in the system, so I was put in charge of fixing them.

They invested a huge amount. I would have fairly regular one-to-one meetings with my manager where we would discuss how I was getting on but also I could set some goals for myself. If I wanted to enhance particular skills then I could tell my manager in those meetings and then I would be directed to the opportunities that would get me there. It was very much a team effort in making sure that the company got what they wanted out of me and that I got what I wanted out of the company.

Very appealing. I know that I like the company and how it operates and I really enjoyed working with the team. There is currently no graduate scheme that I am aware of that would put me back where I was for my placement but with the rate things change, it is possible that I will be able to go back.

Including me, there were 12 interns in my building working for GE Capital. I believe that some interns were not replaced but that they also opened a few more placement opportunities in the office for future students. There was a good social scene amongst us, although we didn't all live in Manchester. I lived at home and commuted into work which meant that I wasn't necessarily always involved in the out-of-work stuff that the others did. We did all go on a few nights out though, and we always had lunch together.

From what I experienced, Manchester isn't any more expensive than most other UK cities. The office I worked in was in Sale, as opposed to Manchester city center so it was probably cheaper to live closer to the office.

If we were going on a night out then we would go into Manchester which was good. If we were just having a drink after work then there was a pub not too far away from the office (about ten minutes walk I think).

Yes there were lots. At the time, the company operated a number of initiatives that allowed employees to get involved and volunteer. I was a member of the engagements committee which organised all of the events like the end of year party. I was also briefly involved at the end of my placement with the volunteering initiative.