Finance Intern Review

I absolutely loved my placement. The company, the people, the job and just the overall general experience was amazing. The level of responsibility was incredible; I was treated as a fully qualified accountant, and was given the same level of tasks as the rest of my team. The intern network was fantastic; I have made some great friends. It has taught me so many new skills and lessons I can take back to uni and use in my future career. Overall, an unforgettable experience that I am very grateful to have been lucky enough to have had.

My colleagues valued me very highly. Not just my team, but the management team, the SLT, people outside my function, our stakeholders, the auditors, everybody treated me with respect. I had a very highly responsible job that people relied on me to do properly and to a high standard, but my team never doubted that I couldn't do it. They even came to me at times when they had questions.

My manager was supportive. But outside of my manager, I had a few members of the business that were particular mentors and people I could turn to for any advice and guidance. If it was related to uni work, or just general concerns with how I was getting on, they were always they to support me and help me where necessary. Even if my manager wasn't around I knew there was always someone I could turn to should I need to.

Overall I was very busy. There were times in the month I was less busy than others but that is just down to the nature of working in Finance. I enjoyed being busy, I always had something to do, but it did mean at times I had some late nights, but I think people appreciated me staying. I always had projects, monthly duties, ad hoc stuff going on, so it kept me on my toes, as it was an intense, high pressured internship.

As previously mentioned one of the best things about this internship was the high level of responsibility I had. I didn't have anyone telling me what to do on a daily basis, and it was only when it came to month and quarter end did I actually get my work reviewed. I think this meant I developed a lot of trust with my team as they were counting on me to get my work done, and produce it ready and correct at the end of the month ready to close the books. I was just treated like any other member of my team or the business, with the same expectations, so the level of responsibility for an intern was very high. There were many tasks that only I knew in the business how to complete, and the only person with access to certain stuff. So it was a lot of responsibility as a lot of stuff was given to me to do for this reason. I also had people coming to me with queries as again, people were aware that I was the only one who knew how to do it. Overall thought I enjoyed this level of responsibility.

Going back to uni I am going to be much more equipped and adapted to ensure I am successful in my last year of my degree. The training you receive from day one is superb and ensures you are well informed on the basics of your job. The training is continuous throughout your time here and there is always scope for you to pick up more training where you and your manager see fit. Going forward the skills have learnt here will help me out in my future career enormously. I have developed office skills such as people skills, time management, communication, confidence, office etiquette, motivation etc, as well as specific Finance related skills that I would not have learnt at uni. The experience will benefit me hugely going forward.

The atmosphere was generally great. There was a good vibe, which meant it wasn't too quiet you felt uncomfortable to speak or chat to people. There was always lots of charity and fundraising events going on, which brought everyone together. It was a great place to work.

On the whole the organisation was spot on. I never experienced any significant bumps that made me question the set up of the internship. They provided welcome days, and put us all in touch beforehand. When I got there although my laptop wasn't ready they were still ready to go to get me set up.

The company significantly invested a lot of time in you. They got you involved with numerous projects that were specifically intern projects, and these came with in depth training on how to manage projects, and the best way to plan and approach your project. You could set up as man reviews with your manager as you liked to understand the progress you were making and how to improve in your weaker areas. People in the business really took the time to make sure you were getting as much as possible out of the experience.

Although at the moment there are very limited opportunities to go back to working with GE Capital, I would be able to apply to other GE companies for their graduate schemes. Although the opportunities aren't there now I would definitely consider applying for a job here in the future. Although working at GE Capital won't guarantee you a job straight out of uni with them it will certainly ensure you are able to get a job elsewhere.

We was very lucky with the group of interns that we had in GE Capital Bristol as we all got along, and spent time together at lunch and outside of work. We were there to support eachother and it was a really friendly atmosphere.

Being in Bristol means in terms of socialising it is considerably cheaper when compared to London, both eating and drinking is relatively cheap to do, and there is a huge range of place to go especially with Gloucester Road on the door step. Although Bristol can be very expensive to live in, if you find the right areas and do a house share you can considerably reduce the costs of rent. I would say its about average as long as you dont pick the most expensive areas.

As a student already in Bristol I knew I liked the nightlife in Bristol. It has got a mixture of places and definitely something for everyone depending on your music taste. There is always lots of events going on and something to do, and especially lots of little quirky places.

GE Capital are great at giving opportunities to get involved with alongside work. Volunteering, HealthAhead, Womens network, all involve a large amount of opportunities where you can take part as little or as much as you like depending on how much time you have. You have the option to really get involved and really make a difference as well as having fun.