Summer Intern Review

I very much enjoyed my internship at Cushman and Wakefield. I feel as if I received a well rounded educational experience both in business life and the role of one of the world's largest real estate advisory firms. I enjoyed spending time with the other interns and the colleagues on my team, who were very welcoming and friendly. I would definitely recommend the Cushman and Wakefield internship to anyone pursuing a career in property.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues, they were helpful and extremely determined to make my time there worthwhile and educational. I feel my opinions were sought after as well as respected and I was trusted with interesting and challenging tasks.

I believe that my supervisors were very clear with what they expected from me over the six weeks. They had planned some interesting work for me before I got there and were extremely prepared to avoid me having nothing to do. I was provided with a network of support and given the time I needed to complete any task and put in the right direction if I needed help from outside the team. On the first week I had many meetings with the team to see what I wanted to gain from the internship and what the expected from me. I was given excellent support and guidance.

As previously stated, I believe that my team had prepared a great deal of work for me before I got there. I had ongoing projects that lasted thew whole six weeks as well as work to contribute to the day to day tasks of the team. If I was not busy I felt comfortable to ask for work from people who sat around me to make sure I was always busy.

The amount of responsibility I was given increased over the six weeks as I got to grips with the workings of the firm and the team. I believe that as the internship went on I was trusted with tasks that carried a lot of weight and I was allowed to speak to clients or complete work that would be sent out.

I gained an insight into the workings of this firm but also the wider real estate industry. Cushman and Wakefield encouraged us to speak to people outside of our team and I had many conversations with people working in roles completely opposite to mine. This meant I got to learn about many different parts of the industry not just my division. The skills and knowledge I developed will help me in my future career and hopefully assist me in my studies.

The office had a very friendly atmosphere, my colleagues were helpful and wanted to teach me. I was taken out for lunch and coffee and would be included in personal and work conversations. I felt comfortable speaking to people I did not know and could always ask people for advice.

The internship was very organised, from the application process to finish the HR staff were very friendly and the logistics were explained well. I knew which office I needed to be at and when as well as what events they had planned for us. My team had prepared tasks for me to do before I got there so I was busy from the the first day.

Cushman and Wakefield put on seminars and events to help us learn and prepare for our presentations. The development director was very friendly and made these sessions interesting. I was trained in public speaking and presentation skills as well as how to behave in an office environment. The firm also had us go on tours and encouraged us to use all the resources available on their website. I was lucky to sit next to a strategist who was very insightful and would invest much of his time teaching me.

I am not currently studying towards a RICS accredited degree which makes my employment more difficult for them. However, the relationships I built within my team, the reference I received and being fast tracked to the assessment centre mean my prospects for a job at Cushman and Wakefield or any other big real estate firm are looking reasonably good.

I did not know any of my fellow interns before the summer but I hope to have built some lasting friendships and potential colleagues in the industry. I have some friends who I did not know went to my university and I have kept in touch with them. My colleagues from my team have been very helpful to me since I have left, answering questions I had and writing me a reference.

I lived at home during my internship so my main expense was travel. The tube is quite expensive but manageable. The local pubs and restaurants are reasonably priced and definitely nothing more than you would expect in the west end.

There are many good pubs surrounding both offices and being in the west end there was no shortage of clubs and bars.

There were many events put on for networking purposes and some sports events where we could socialise with the other interns and some graduates in a casual environment. There were drinks events and tours put on by the firm.