Commercial Analyst Review

My placement at Virgin Media Business as a Commercial Analyst was a more rewarding and enjoyable experience than I ever could have anticipated. I finished my placement year a completely different person from when I started, more confident in myself and my ability, more professional and most importantly more employable.

There never came at time during my placement year that I felt like just an Intern. From day 1 I was treated exactly the same as the other employee’s in my team. I was included in every graduate specific activity throughout the year and allowed time out from my team to complete development based activities and workshops. The entire company is extremely interested in the intern/graduate scheme and everyone strives to help you meet your goals in anyway possible.

My manager was extremely supportive throughout my entire placement. Frequent 121’s allowed my progress to be tracked closely and ensure I could manage my workload and even take on new tasks when needed. My manager also ensured my achievements were noticed by higher management, for example each ‘shout’ I received from other colleagues (internal ways of providing positive feedback to a person) he would send them straight onto my director. This gave me great exposure and a great reputation with the Senior Leadership Team, allowing me to stand out from other Interns/graduates.

Although Virgin Media has quite a relaxed culture, the workload was always extremely tough. This is something I thoroughly enjoyed as being pushed and under pressure has always helped me to succeed. It also meant my ability enhanced at a quicker pace and I learnt the importance and benefits of prioritisation.

In the beginning of my placement I was shocked with the amount of responsibility I was given. I soon realised this was because Virgin Media value your ability and trust that you can take on the work. This was beneficial in my case as I was able to make big decisions that effected both our customers directly and the company as a whole. I was also able to manage projects and people in both training and management purposes.

The skills I developed during my placement year will be extremely useful when returning to University. Being able to experience the highs and low’s of a real life business, will allow me to have a more truthful and critical perspective when tackling essays in my final year of my Business Management degree, which are the attitudes needed to get first class grades.

As I was based in the head office for Virgin Media Business, the office contained most of the Senior Leadership team, including my Managing Director. This gave the office professional feel however the creative and fun side of a Virgin company shined brightly. Everyone is friendly and happy to help anyone with anything- it really was a extremely fun place to work (especially the day events that took place such as Charity Tug of War)

The internship was organised extremely well. The Talent team selected the department I would be working in before I started the placement based on the skills I possessed and previous experiences I'd had. This was picked perfectly and I thoroughly enjoyed working in Commercial and it completely matched my skill set. Throughout the year there was various development workshops and room to take on extra activities I felt interested in.

There were multiple training classes and development workshops I attended throughout the year. Which helped both my product knowledge and support with my future career path and how to achieve my employment goals. Within my team I was also given a lot of training and free time to take on additional projects which would develop my skills in different departmental areas.

This answer is simple- it couldn't be any better! After completing my placement year I applied for the 2017 graduate scheme at Virgin Media Business. After an application, including recommendations from both my manager and my director, I was invited to present what I had achieved throughout the year and attend an interview. The same day I was offered the graduate job! A much easier process than applying internally and it means I can go back to my final year at University having already secured a graduate role.

There was an excellent atmosphere between the other interns at Virgin Media. The Facebook page was most useful at the beginning as it allowed me to find the other 5 interns I would then be living with! There were a lot of other interns in the same office and we frequently spent time together. It was more difficult with the interns based in other locations but there were some events throughout the year where we were all together which was great.

I lived in Reading during my placement year which was quite an expensive change, as before I was a student in Sheffield which was much cheaper. However the salary paid by Virgin Media was enough to cover my accommodation costs and allowed me some extra money to travel to London most weekends to enjoy the capital!

The nightlife in Reading was great as it was a student city. However Reading is only a 20 minute train ride into central London which myself and some of the other interns did quite frequently for nights out. There were also a few pub trips from the office which are always a great laugh, and a brilliant way to get to know your team in a more social and relaxed environment.

There were many times I was able to be involved in activities outside of work. Each employee is given a day off in the year to do some charity work for a charity of their choice. Also I was able to do multiple projects and activities outside of my day to day role, this is because the development of interns is valued so highly, so my manager encouraged me to take up as many opportunities as possible.