Finance Summer Intern Review

The placement was a good insight into the corporate environment and really provided me with a better understanding of the soft and hard skills necessary in the world of work. The work environment is welcoming and this really made it easier when asking questions or for advice on the tasks you are set. The interns were also very well looked after outside of work as well with excellent accommodation being provided a short drive from either of the work offices that we were based.

Every intern is assigned a line manger who they work closely with but are also part of a wider team that provide good support and guidance. This made making an impact in your team a lot more achievable as you could regularly ask for advice and guidance which meant you could progress and improve in your work. Praise was often given when you had performed work well but also when receiving constructive criticism, it was clear so that you could go away, build on what was said and try to improve and add vale to the team. Opinions were valued in meetings and also a lot of responsibility was delegated out to me.

I ran weekly meetings with members of my team to review my work, scheduled regular review sessions with my manager about my progress and improvement areas and ultimately was always able to approach any member of my team with any question I had. This enabled me to improve throughout the placement, becoming more independent as time went on, but still having that support network available whenever necessary.

I was kept very busy. Due to the time of year, my team had a lot of work to do so I was constantly completing one task and then moving on to another throughout my time. I was also given smaller tasks to perform alongside my main work meaning that there was a lot of time management involved in this placement. Although we were contracted to work 9am-5pm My working day normally consisted of 8:30am-5:30pm/6pm as I had a lot to stay on top of.

The level of responsibility was quite high, being expected to perform the same level of work as the other members of my team. Naturally allowances were made for me in terms of having more time to digest and complete work in addition to having to ask questions. However, it was my responsibility to approach everything with a high effort level and ultimately complete tasks that I had been set.

The main skills I will take away from this are soft skills, such as communication, time management and work attitude. However, my role did involve a large amount of analytical work and this really helped develop these skills due to the work I was set involving a lot of investigation and analysing. I think the general exposure to how a business runs and intertwines across service lines will be very useful in future when applying for graduate roles and interviewing.

The office was generally quite relaxed. Although everyone worked hard, people did not shy away from having a coffee and a chat about their weekend or plans for the evening. However when the deadlines were approaching, everyone was expected to pull their weight and knuckle down. As mentioned, the office is also very welcoming in terms of approachability for questions in addition to networking opportunities.

There were two aspects of organisation that varied in result. Firstly, the accommodation and actual work & job roles were very well organised. I was impressed with how well located and equipped the accommodation was and the job role was good with a good team and we had all the resource we needed in terms of equipment (phone, laptop, bag) and good teams surrounding us. However, the HR department were very unorganised at times. On several occasions, the HR team would spring deadlines upon us with a day or two notice that were very unattainable. For example, only letting you know the deadline for your progress document to be completed and reviewed by your manager over the weekend, which is obviously unattainable. This is one of the only areas of improvement I would have. Additionally, I think we would have benefited from the grad team letting us know who we would be living with before the day we arrived so that we could make initial contact with our housemates we would be living with for the next 10 weeks.

We were given a good excel training session and training on presenting techniques which were both very useful. We also attended several team building events put on for the interns that were very fun and beneficial. Our teams were also very attentive in giving feedback, guidance and encouragement which really helped me develop over the 10 weeks. There was constant opportunity to have my work reviewed by my Line Manager and other team members which further aided my progression within my role.

For my stream there was a 50% chance of being fast-tracked to the graduate scheme, which looks very appealing and was one of the main reasons I applied for the internship. I know for other streams, however, that there is a much higher retention rate from internship to graduate scheme. There were also a lot of graduates that had come through the summer internship, which shows how good the retention/employment prospects are.

The social side of the placement was excellent. There was firstly 40 intern all staying together in a university block of flats, and this meant we all did a lot together such as social events at the accommodation and going out to Windsor or London on nights out. There is a cinema nearby in Staines also that we made good use and a day return to London with zone 1-6 tube access was only £10, something I made good use of. Overall we all had a great social experience and really made the most of our downtime.

Generally the prices were actually relatively cheaper than what I perceived before first moving down to Egham. Alcohol was the only thing that was really expensive, but the supermarkets and restaurants did not seem too expensive relative to what I was used to at university. Parking was free at the office so that did not add any extra expense and the accommodation is provided for by Centrica, so that is a massive bonus.

The nightlife was ok in Windsor, nothing special but it was quite expensive to get in and drink within the club when going out on weekends. Thursday night in Windsor was the local student night and this was very cheap in comparison. We went out to Kingston twice and that was a really good night and only cost £14 return in a taxi, definitely worth the expense to get a better night out. Often on weekends though, if we weren't going out we would have drinks at home with people from our block.

I played football in two different work teams weekly which was a great way to unwind after a day at work. As part of our placement we also were required to partake and contribute towards raising money for Centrica's charity. This gave us opportunities to take days off work and get out into the community to add value that way. This was greatly enjoyable to have a change of scenery and make a positive impact to the local community.