IT Intern Review

The internship was fantastic. I really enjoyed my time at IFDS - I was given responsibility from the start and the perks were great. I spent 6 weeks in the UK office and 2 weeks in the Bangkok office. Not only was I on a very fair salary throughout the internship, my accommodation was paid for during the full 8 weeks, my travel to work and expenses whilst out in Thailand.

I felt very valued by my colleagues; everyone at the company was very friendly. I worked alongside one other intern and we completed tasks together. Our contributions felt very appreciated and we were constantly told of this.

A very experienced colleague managed me along with one other intern. I could not have asked for a better manager. He always ensured that everything was okay, that we had enough work to do and that we were happy with the work set. We were subject to some great opportunities, such as work client visits to London and Peterborough.

During the first week, our computers were not set up properly, meaning that we were unable to work to our full potential. This was frustrating, however, once we were in a position to work easily, things got very busy. We had a long list of jobs to complete, both short and long-term. When I went to Bangkok, the workload dropped and there was less to complete. This was slightly disappointing and we had to search for our own jobs, rather than be told exactly what was needed.

I was involved in a million pound project, working directly with my manager. The responsibility exerted on us as interns was huge and perhaps in some situations, a little too much. Although it was fantastic for me to experience, at points I did feel that people who I was working with didn't believe I should be getting the responsibility I was given.

Everything I learnt on the Internship will help me with my studies in the future. In fact, the topic of my internship was perhaps more relevant to my degree than the placement I carried out previously, simply because of the subject matter being more related to IT. Nevertheless, the soft skills that I've learnt over the past year and a half through both my placement and internship will be invaluable when returning to University and in later life.

The atmosphere was great. Everyone was really friendly. The rules are also quite relaxed; for example, you can answer your phone away from your desk and take small breaks from time to time. The office in Thailand was also very fun to work in.

The internship was set-up very well, particularly by HR. All the information we needed was always with us. What I would say however is that to start with, our PC's were not set-up and it meant that for the first week, it was a struggle to get going.

We were subject to training throughout and everything was very professional. The company was excellent at developing us as individuals, considering that we were only there for 8 weeks. The extent that the company invested in us was very high.

I have been told that I will be receiving an offer for full-time employment, with the possibility of international travel to the companies offices. It's a very exciting opportunity.

We lived together for the full 8 weeks. We regularly socialised and some of the people I met, I'll keep in contact with for a long time to come. As there were only 8 of us and people went home at weekends, at times it got a little unexciting - however, as I was from the area, I met up with my friends from home regularly.

It was in Essex - after living in London for the past year, it was certainly a lot cheaper. As our accommodation and travel was paid for, it was a very cheap cost of living.

I loved Essex for a night out, but then again I'm from the area! I'm not sure if the Interns quite agreed.

We were taken out for meals by other staff members and treated very well. Some interns also took part in sport activities. If you wanted to get involved, you could.