Assistant Manager in Public Affairs Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement. It aligned completely with my interests and I was given a wide range of tasks to carry out. I was always busy, but thrived on it. I was given the opportunity to attend different meetings and even went to the Scottish Parliament. I managed to get a few MSPs to attend events, which felt good.

My colleagues asked me to help them with important tasks which I would take ownership over. They would listen to feedback I had and my thoughts and take it seriously. They made me feel included and would ensure that I had enough work to do. If they needed a quick task to be done, I was there to help them.

He was always on hand for support whenever I had a query. When it came to writing up my review, he was very thorough with process and we went through several drafts before he was happy with it. I liked this constructive criticism because it ensured that my review was the best it could possibly be.

I was fairly busy on a daily basis. I always had a range of tasks going and if I ever got bored with one, I could switch it up and do something else. I also arranged shadowing, so when I wasn't doing my own work, I was learning more about the business and how it operates.

I was given a significant amount of responsibility. In my first week I was told that I would be responsible for ensuring that we have colleagues from the business attending roundtables in four different regions! It was a hefty task, but it was my job to make sure it was done. I was also asked to do a presentation to an external business about the work that we already do. This was important as it helped to lay the ground to build upon new business relations.

I do a Politics degree and was working in a Public Affairs team, so that is automatically quite relevant. In terms of specific skills, I improved upon my research skills, data analysis, presentation skills and general confidence. I have built up a network of contacts which will certainly be useful in the future.

The atmosphere was quite easy-going and everyone knew and spoke to each other. If anyone from my team wasn't there, I knew I could ask anyone else in the office and they would be there to lend a hand. Everyone was really nice and interested in how I was doing.

It was fairly organised. During my first day in the office, my laptop and email account was set up. The one thing that could have been better was the way the Charity Challenge was set up. We didn't find out which teams we were in until the end of the second week, which meant that we lost valuable time that we could have otherwise spent fundraising.

There were four webinars that were organised and available to all of the interns. They were on a range of topics such as adding value and customer service. There were also different workshops that were organised in order to give us a better insight into the rest of the business.

The process has been made simple. All we have to do is get a referral, which will put us on to the graduate scheme. After spending two years doing this, you are almost guaranteed to get a job within the business. It is also competitively paid which makes it more appealing.

Yes, a majority of us stayed together in the same accommodation in Edinburgh. There was a lot to do, especially with the Fringe Festival. Regular nights out/outings were organised and we all generally had lunch together.

It was fairly expensive, but this was unsurprising as we were in Edinburgh which is a major city.

Not great. But there are a lot of clubs around.

Not particularly. A comedy night was organised and some people would go for drinks outside of work, but that was it.