Intern in Technology and Operations Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship overall as my colleagues were extremely friendly and I was given the opportunity to learn so many new things.

My colleagues were extremely welcoming and made the effort to get to know me through going out for team meals, for example. From early on in my internship I was given real responsibility and difficult tasks to complete on behalf of others on my team which made me feel very valued.

I sat next to my buddy so support was always available. I also met weekly with my line manager to talk through the work I was completing that week and any issues I was having. Lots of staff members being on annual leave at the same time during the summer at times made it difficult to receive the guidance I was looking for to complete particular pieces of work.

Due to changing business needs, it is was difficult to predict how busy I would be each day. On some days there was not much work for me to do, however, on other days there would be lots to manage and it could get quite hectic. Overall, my average working hours were 9am to 5pm.

I was given lots of responsibility from early on in my placement. Others in my team were happy for me to independently complete work that would contribute to the overall projects that were happening. This at times involved organising and leading meetings to resolve issues and pull together relevant information.

I think the skills I developed during my internship will help in my degree studies. In particular, work that I have completed during my placement relating to impact assessments has strengthened my analytical skills which will help when completing research reports. I believe other skills I have developed such as communication and leadership skills will also definitely help in any future workplace.

The general atmosphere in my office was extremely friendly. All my colleagues made an effort to get to know me when I first arrived and were happy to support me when I was organising events such as a charity bake sale. I also felt comfortable going to speak to anyone in my office during the working day if I needed any support/guidance.

The organisation of the internship was unfortunately quite poor. I initially had communication difficulties with HR when it took them over four months to refund my travel expenses from my initial interview day. They also only refunded £50 despite my travel expenses costing more than £150. I then had difficulties regarding my location preferences. HR asked me to identify three location preferences in order. After providing this to them it took them several weeks to get in contact with me to tell me that none of my location preferences would be available. I asked them why they had not contacted me sooner discuss this issue and they stated that as they had not been sure what my interests were, they did not know office to place me in and by this time all spaces were full. I found this extremely frustrating as they could have simply called me to clarify this and this issue would have been avoided. They also then provided no support finding/booking accommodation in a new area and there was also no financial support provided for this. These bad experiences made me quite nervous about what my internship would be like when I started. Fortunately, all my colleagues were extremely supportive and I enjoyed the work that I was given.

All interns were required to complete a number of mandatory training modules on topics such as fighting financial crime and data protection and security. There were also a number of webinars put on for interns to support our knowledge of the overall business and current company initiatives.

I believe I would enjoy working for this organisation in the future, however, I am put off by the need to be extremely location flexible (following the negative experience I had organising my placement).

There was only one other intern located in my office so there was not a good social scene amongst fellow students. However, I did enjoy going out for team meals etc. with colleagues in my office. I think there may have been a better social scene in other office locations where there were a greater number of interns located there.

As I had to rent accommodation for the duration of my ten-week internship this was quite costly. However, the cost of this accommodation was relatively cheap compared to accommodation in other areas. The cost of socialising, for example going out for meals and drinks, was also quite cheap compared to other areas.

There was no nightlife in this area.

They were opportunities to participate in events such as a team community day which involved painting at a pre-school. There was also the opportunity to go out for team meals and drinks etc. However, there were no company sports team or any other activities such as this to participate in.