SWG Analyst Review

It was a very different experience to what I was expecting, This had its positives and negatives, but allowed me to experience things different to what I had originally thought I would.

Overall my colleagues were fantastic and attentive and allowed me to develop my skills. There were however a few who I feel had a large impact on my year and could have put more effort into ensuring I learnt more.

Again I have conflicting views. I had some amazing supervision and management, but at the same time I also had some very poor management and was left feeling slightly lost at some points.

3/5 days of the week I was busy and had enough to keep me motivated throughout the week. But because management only wanted certain things on certain days I did have a mid-week lull unless I reached out for work. My placement roles wouldn't be enough to satisfy an individual for a year without any ad-hoc work

The work I did complete was required for weekly meetings, or sent off by my manager to other people, so it was important, but I would have liked to feel that it was acknowledged I could have completed more.

I have learnt a lot on this placement, from the skills needed for my weekly tasks, to general self development. If I pick my 3rd year modules with some thought it will definitely help me apply some real-world knowledge into workshops and hopefully essays!

I worked in 2 offices at my time and they were both completely different. There was sometimes an underlying feeling that long-term employees did find interns annoying. This may just have been because there seemed to be a very large intern:long term employee ratio.

Very organised, and the support given to every single intern by the foundation community was incredibly attentive. Any questions regarding placements were answered, normally before they'd even been asked and the number of reviews throughout the year allowed for self-motivation and an understanding of how we were working at our tasks.

There were lots of events put on just for placement students which allowed us to speak to experienced individuals, ask questions or learn about different parts of the business.

Personally they are low. This is because I have learnt a lot about myself over the year, and for me I don't think I've been pushed enough through the year and don't think it's the avenue of business I wish to work in. However I do see why many others see great future prospects for themselves. It just isn't for me.

Foundation enabled all the interns to communicate and through learning events enabled socialisation. The large number of interns also meant the canteen was always busy with placement students. Thursday drinks and Christmas party were organised by individuals within the placement community!

I was lucky enough to be able to live at University and commute to both the offices I worked in over the year, so my living costs weren't too high at all! Socialising in London... is to be expected, just budget for it!

London is great, obviously. The other office I worked in was Bedfont, which obviously meant there was less choice without getting a train somewhere, but that's not the end of the world.

There were sporting events and charity events, but they weren't promoted as much as some of the internal events for interns.