Retail Development Review

I am currently really enjoying getting a better understanding of the practical world of commercial property, specifically retail development. The people in my team take the time to help me undertand why I am doing certian jobs which is now helping me to get a picture of what is involved in this line of work. I particulaly enjoy becoming a part of a team and seeing projects through.

My colleagues make every effort to make me understand why I am doing certian jobs, but understandably they are very busy at certain times in the day. I believe over my time here I have become a valuable part of the team as I assist my colleagues in every way I can.

My supervisior when I first arrvied sat me down and explained the basic principals of retail development. Furthermore she made it very clear if I had any problems/ too much/ too little work and not to hesitate to ask in either situation. Since she has been very kind in updating me on my progression and other areas I need to work in.

My work seems to come in waves, some times everyone in the department comes to me with work and other times there is less to do. As my internship has progressed I have had a more consistent work load as people are more used and aware of me around the office. I am now at the point where I consistently have work on.

I appreciate that all the work I am given is particularly useful for the department and on that basis I pay high regard to everthing I complete, in terms of responsibility I have done work which is open for the public such as creating the sharepoint site. This bears responsibility and I believe shows the trust my collegaues have in me.

I have gained invaluable office skills, including very general ones such as office etiquette and telephone to more specific such as; understanding the principals involved in commercial property. I have had 2 months working specifically in retail development helping me work efficiently and being able to contribute to the team. Over these two months I have constantly been trying to understand everything I have been doing and the purpose of the job enhanncing my practical knowledge in this area.

There has to be a good balance in having fun and a joke and then knowing when to work. The office I have been working in has exactly that balance. There is a very friendly and approacable atmosphere but there everyone knows how and when to get their work done.

Impeccable attention to detail has been put into my internship, as explained earlier my goals were set out at the beginning, I have been updated on my progress and now I am happy to say all of my goals have been acheived with the assistance of my colleagues helping me where it was needed.

Various people in my sector invested their time to teach me some of the more property orientated applications such as GOAD etc. With regard to the updates I was recieving it helped my development within the firm and made me intergrate faster into the corporate lifestyle. I would have liked to have some lessons on some of the windows applications such as microsoft excel.

After my two month intership I am now even more dedicated to getting offerd a job after I have finished my intership here. The corporate environment and atmosphere alongside the driven work ethics have compounded my desire to work within the firm on a permanent basis.

I have been able to socialise with all of my intern colleages, all of which are very friendly and we now socialise outside of work. There have been varoius occasions where we as a team have been out to help to get to know each other better.

I would not refer to living in central London as cheap as chips although I was dedicated to get to know other colleages and as all the Interns were getting paid therefore we were all able to socialise outside of work.

The nightlife I experienced in the area where I worked was good, it has nice bars for a drink after work and the area had adequate places to meet and socialise.

We had various opportunities to get involved outside of work, from softball, which was a weekly occasion, to cricket, company drinks and team lunches.