Assistant Manager - Financial Controls Review

I enjoyed my placement because the people on my team were welcoming and supportive and helped me find my feet quickly. I knew what I needed to do when I came into work each day and being able to get on with these things on my own made me feel useful. This gave me a sense of confidence that enabled me to enjoy my job.

My colleagues made sure that I felt valued whilst at work. I am regularly thanked whenever I help with extra tasks and have been included in team meetings and social events. Overall I would say that my team are very welcoming and the people within my office are also friendly and appreciative.

Due to my line manager being on holiday for my first week of work I feel that I lacked some guidance at the start of my internship, however two of my other colleagues shared the role of my supervisor during this time and provided me with the support that I needed. Overall I feel that I could have had more support and guidance but due to my team being small and having a lot of work to do, there just wasn't the time available to fully guide me through everything.

Work in my team is quite cyclical due to the demands of 'month end'. As such for two weeks I would be quite busy with my daily tasks, month end extras and any adhoc work. For the other two weeks of the month work could be a little scarcer, however during this time my manager made sure to outsource me to other teams so that I could help them with their workload.

I was given a reasonable ammount of responsibility. I had to complete tasks that were important for ensuring that risk and compliance were being adressed. Many of my tasks involved checking and signing off paperwork to ensure that other teams tasks had been done. I feel that I could have been given more responsibility but I think that this was not given to me largely because it would have required access to a variety of systems.

The routine of my daily tasks has helped me set a rhythm within my working day that I would like to maintain when I return to my studies. I have also further developed my excel skills which will make certain aspects of my course easier. I've also gained familiarity with databases, outlook which will be relevant to many jobs. I have become more organised in my daily life and adjusted to having a routine.

Everyone was welcoming and pleasant. The whole office is involved in regular meetings even though we work on separate teams and senior leadership regularly made sure to recognise people's personal and professional successes. Every morning each team has a 'huddle' where they talk about the tasks and successes as well as gauging every employee's personal mood and professional capacity for the day. Having this conversation each morning made sure that everyone knew exactly what page they were on each day and also helped break down the taboo of 'having a bad day'. There are also many mini events that run within this business area and there is a healthy amount of competition as well as cake/sweets/treats to celebrate things within the office.

In some ways my internship was well organised, I had work to do when I came in and most of the time I was busy. However, the organisation from the scheme as a whole was poor. There was little communication between the scholars team and individual line managers and interns. As such each intern had a very different internship experience. I think my placement could have been better organised if I had been granted access to all the software I needed before I had arrived and had been set a project earlier on in the internship.

We were all given webinars during the first few weeks of our internship and whilst this is a good idea, unfortunately they were incredibly similar to the ones I listened to during my first internship. As a returning intern I did not feel that it was valuable for me to listen to the same webinars two times in a row and feel that it would have been better to have been offered further development training. Perhaps more training specific to my business area.

I would definitely consider working here as an option for my future. There are definite perks to becoming a full time employee and it does feel as if employees are appreciated and cared for at least within my business unit. I would be keen to return to this area as a graduate and can recognise that there is room for progression.

As I was not in the same accommodation as the other interns I missed out on the social side of things. However, there are supposed to be organised events that are held for the interns and graduates but unfortunately I was unable to attend any of these. Many of these were held on weekday evenings which seems to be a bit of an oversight.

Bristol is expensive to live in and socialise in but it is a fantastic city and I would say that it is definitely worth it as you are farely spoilt for choice and there is a lot to do here. Especially in the summer when there are free events almost every other weekend.

Bristol has a wild and varied nightlife, however during the summer time it is a bit quieter as many regular events are run by people who also run local festivals as well as there being a large decrease in the number of students over the summer holidays. As such summertime in Bristol is a lot quieter than the rest of the year but there is still a lot to do.

There are many activities outside of work, some are emailed to you like the Bristol young professionals events and some are things that you may have to find for yourself. Either way there is a lot to do here and you will not be bored doing an internship in Bristol.