Finance Intern Review

I've had a great time in my 10 weeks. The culture here really lends itself to Summer Internships, being very open and happy-to-help - it means as an Intern you can learn a lot and people are very happy to answer your questions. The work I was given was engaging and very relevant to my role (Finance), as well as giving me a reasonably large amount of responsibility. There's also emphasis on socials, development days and networking opportunities which have been fun. Of course sharing accommodation with 40 other interns also meant there was a great social scene!

I felt very valued by my immediate colleagues who I worked directly for, however sitting as outside advisors to a team (due to my role) meant that my involvement with the wider team as a whole was limited. This meant that they didn't necessarily have great knowledge of what I was doing hence it was sometimes a little difficult to feel "valued" by them as such. Having said that we always ate lunch together and the times I did do bits and bobs for them I was well respected as part of the team.

The people responsible for managing/supervising me were fantastic at giving guidance and support, but also in giving me enough independence and responsibility to prove myself. I was very happy with this aspect of the placement. They put a lot of effort into helping me network and get involved, as well as giving me honest and useful feedback on my work. At times they felt more like mentors than managers and I heard from other interns who also felt this way.

Generally quite busy. There were odd days when I was waiting on other people and therefore didn't have loads to get on with, but even then there was always ad-hoc work I could do. The work I was given was quite open-ended and I could take it as far as I wanted, so I pushed myself to do the best I could, making me very busy at times. Although this created some pressure on me, I liked that fact and if there was something I couldn't do for a legitimate reason people would of course not be disappointed in me. There is a general expectation that an intern will work hard and to a good standard but you are given plenty of time for personal development and to create networking opportunities as well.

A lot - more than I expected. Prior to this I had completed a year in industry at a different company, and by the end there I was given quite a lot of responsibility, but Centrica was a step up again. Interns are given real projects and the work they do will influence business decisions. I feel like I was treated similarly to a graduate, and graduates themselves are very well respected here. There was the odd intern whose role seemed to give them less responsibility so I get the impression it may depend on your role or managers, but on the whole if you prove yourself you will be trusted to do important work.

Degree studies not so much, since the placement is in a different area to my studies and the work done in academia is quite different to the work I've been doing at Centrica. What I will take away with me is a network of people, a better informed view on life in a corporate environment (and how to make the most of it) and better direction in my career. There was also training given in presenting and Excel which were very useful and relevant.

Relaxed, open and generally positive. People were quite professional but also very relatable. There are things to get involved in outside of work (fitness, sports, volunteering) which add to the positive feeling. If you needed help people would happily go above and beyond for the most part. I very quickly felt settled into the office environment here. Other teams I heard about seemed to have a more "all in it together" vibe than mine but I still felt a sense of team spirit within my team. One downside however is the fact that a lot of people work at home on certain days of the week, meaning the office could get empty sometimes.

The internship was obviously well co-ordinated with a set plan of activities spread across the ten weeks. People were assigned roles appropriate to their stream and had plenty to do within their roles. There were a few levels of support for anybody that required it (Graduate buddies, line managers, the graduate team) and the process for getting recruited onto the graduate scheme if you are accepted (and want it) is well defined and communicated.

A reasonable extent. We were given very useful and relevant training in Excel and presenting and also spent a day with an external team doing team building activities. Interns are encouraged to fundraise and volunteer and are given half a day off to take at their choosing to do so. Within my team my managers were keen to help me develop and give me opportunities to build a network of contacts. At the same time there is again an element of "it is what you make of it" - there's a lot of scope to create opportunities for yourself and if you express an interest in doing something or organising something people will make an effort to accommodate you.

Good - most Graduates are hired through the Summer Placement scheme so if you're good and show a keen interest in the Graduate scheme you have a good chance of getting offered a place. There's also the opportunity to switch to a different stream for the Graduate scheme if you decide you would be better placed there than in your Summer Placement stream - e.g. Analyst to Finance.

Yes, there were 40 of us in university halls (the halls were nice and paid for by the company - another bonus) so there were usually things going on, particularly on Friday nights. I run and cycle a lot and found people to run/cycle with. Sometimes a lot of people would go away over the weekend meaning it could get pretty quiet, but generally there were people around to hang out with, or go on trips with, etc.. I also got involved in a sprint triathlon for the first time with a team member which was a good experience.

The nightlife was good. The halls were in Egham which itself was quiet, but Windsor has a couple of reasonably sized clubs and there are enough interns that it's feasible to get taxis to and from Clapham or Kingston to go out there. There was something going on every Friday night I was there and sometimes other nights too.