Information Systems Intern Review

Overall I enjoyed my time at M&G. Every single person I met was nice, and there were always people interested in how I was getting along. The office is in a fantastic part of London and there were multiple social events that took advantage of what London had to offer. I was however frustrated at times due to certain things being against the teachings of my University and other experiences I've had. Whilst I covered a broad range of things during my time, I did less of what I thought the main purpose of my internship was and more ad-hoc things around it. (This was not necessarily due to being an intern but due to the current state of the department at the time)

I was treated like I was a full time employee of the company. They gave me 'real' work that was a contribution to what they were working on and they seemed grateful for what I produced.

Support was very good. Whilst they let you work with a level of automony, they actively encouraged questions and were always more than happy to help you with what you need. Sometimes my manager and team would forget I did not know anything about the system I would be working on so I had to push them for further clarification, but his was a good test of my investigatory skills.

My work rate fluctuated a bit, I spent a fair amount of the time with not quite enough work to do but then on certain days I would have a lot. This was not helped, and was potentially caused by a big project on the horizon that everyone was gearing towards. I was not the only person in the office with less work than expected. I spent some of this downtime learning and researching about the way the company operates, via the internal knowledge base and by scheduling meetings with people in the office. (Which people are more than happy to do)

I was given 'real' work that was needed, and helped the project move forward. If I had not done the work, someone else would of had to do it. I was not walked step by step though everything, and I was allowed to be independent learner/worker and work just as everyone else in the office.

I feel that there is more to be learned at in internship than the technical job description and the work you do. I think the skills around working, time allocation and communication with colleagues has been really useful and it's been great that the people here are very friendly and able to provide a good environment for that. The technical knowledge I learned was not as much as I was hoping for but I have gained a broad knowledge of many things whilst being here that cover all aspects of the department's work and even the other parts of the company that I would have never interacted with.

The office is very relaxed, quiet but a gentl bubble of conversation.

Intern things outside of the actual work were well organised. Once I started I realised there wasn't really a plan for me job wise and I was simply meant to pick up tasks that were needed doing by someone.

There were insight sessions into the different areas of the business, but no actual training. This is understandable as I was only at the company for 8 weeks.

Quite high, it seems like a very nice place to work. Everyone is nice, the atmosphere is friendly and there appears to be an ability to move to different areas of the department if you want to try soemthing new.

There were two groups of interns, as some were in another building across the road. However there were groups that formed and had lunch together frequently, a core group of people that went out every friday and a whatsapp group for everyone to communicate.

It's central london, so lots. I already had accommodation in London because of University so I cant really comment on money as it cost me effectivly nothing to stay here for the internship. As for socialising, it can get a bit expensive. But again, that's London, and you don't have to spend to have fun.

It's London, theres a million things to do every night.

There a quite a number of extra things. Two 5/10k runs that many employess went on, the Pru cycle weekend event, softball and cricket organised by a few people in the office and of course the summer party.