Corporate Propositions Director Review

The placement was a real learning experience. Everyone on the team was lovely and I had plenty of support available to me if I needed it, and never felt afraid to ask questions. However, the actual work I had available to do was not highly motivating, nor was it suited to my strong maths background. It was a very slow start, learning about Corporate Pensions and reading lots of documents, and then I was given a project which, at first was hard to get into, then was hard to stay motivated during.

I must start by saying, my colleagues were absolutely lovely and we all got on fine. However with them being busy in their work and having no interest in my work, I didn't feel particularly valued. In team meetings, where others would be sharing their work and making notes because it was all relevant to everyone, my project felt very isolated as it didn't really affect anyone in my team.

Support was always available to me. I would be told contacts who I could get in touch with and arrange meetings with to discuss my work further and to gain some help and advice. I also had one to ones every week with my line manager where we would discuss my work, my only problem with this is that I felt that I wasn't given clear direction as I would do what was suggested only to then be told it wasn't what I should have done.

Due to only having one ongoing project, it wasnt like I ever had the opportunity to run out of work, but I was far from busy. I feel I needed more deadlines to aim for as my only real deadline was the end of the internship (and believe me, 10 weeks feels like a long time when you're staring at the same data on your computer every day)

I don't really feel like I had any proper responsibility. My task was a first step towards something that would be passed on to someone else who would then look at it in a different way and potentially publish it - although this wasn't a given. Because of this it felt a lot like what I was doing was almost useless which gave me the feeling of being an intern that was dumped on someone who didn't want/need one. I cannot speak for everyone though as I was also given a few shadowing opportunities where I then was given work and responsibility within their team, even if only for one day. I think it's highly dependant on where you're placed and who you're with.

I've not learnt any skills that I didn't already have or that will help me in my final University year. I think this is mostly due to the fact I was just given one task that wasn't difficult. I know plenty of the other interns had much more variety and had tasks that required learning on the job. Sadly, the main issue was being placed in a team that has no assosication with mathematics whatsoever and I come from a strong maths background - about to enter the final year of my maths degree.

The general atmoshpere was actually better than expected. Although mostly it was very focussed and professional, there was always laughter somewhere around and people coming for the odd general conversation which was nice. I would say it's one of the best working atmospheres I have had throughout my multitude of jobs.

The organisation of the Emerging Talent team. I think this was mostly excellently executed. The running of the placement was smooth, the induction was set up nicely and we had weekly webinars which were insightful and informative. What could have been improved was the application and allocation process. I applied in December and got an offer at the beginning of June - 4 weeks before the placement was due to start which was an issue as I already had another job lined up. Also, I was then told it would be likely I would be given somewhere close to one of my two location choices (South of England) only to then be placed in Scotland, and in a team that has no association to maths, despite me studying a maths degree and clearly stating in my application how this is what motivates me. I then feel when in my role, my line manager didn't have the time for me particularly - she did make time, i can't fault her on that - but I felt like the task I had been given was just an easy thing to keep me busy for the 10 weeks.

I haven't had any training or development opportunities either online or face to face.

It's hard to say because future prospects on my team are not appealing at all, however that's not to say that I wouldn't like the opportunity to go work in a team that is better suited to me. I will find out shortly whether I have been offered a grad position but will have to take some time to consider it before deciding if to accept my offer

The social scene between the other interns and scholars was brilliant. Every day when I went to have lunch there would be a big group of them altogether and we would chat through our lunch breaks. Outside of work we had nights out, pub crawls, went to a dungeon tour, went to the cinema, did all sorts together. I made a lovely group of friends and hope to stay in touch with some of them.

The accomodation we were placed in was paid for - however if it wasn't there is no way I would have stayed there as it would have cost roughly the same amount that I earnt in 10 weeks! Considering we were in Edinburgh city centre, the costs of activities and food/drink was actually not as bad as I thought. I come from a smaller town so the prices are higher here, but they are not ridiculously expensive at all.

I had one night out in Edinburgh as part of an intern night out for their charity challenge. This was a great night and the club was great and I know other interns have gone out to various other places too. It's also a lovely city because you can walk through it at night and all the bars and pubs are full of people and there are plenty of people out and about and everywhere is well lit so you always feel very safe. I could happily go to the gym at 10pm alone and walk home at midnight without a single worry.

There were plenty of opportunities, mostly hosted by grads, interns or scholars to try and get people together for friendly social events ranging from playing pool or minigolf to a crazy night out.