HR Administrator Review

My internship was hugely enjoyable, I made great relationships with my team, the rest of the interns and all the other colleagues I have been involved with. My manager made sure I got exactly what I wanted out of my placement year, and I was given plenty of opportunities to get involved with projects and events wherever possible. As well as this, the two events the company host every year (Christmas Party and Family Day) are fantastic and there were plenty of team building days/activities throughout the year.

I felt extremely valued by my colleagues, I was always thanked and complimented when I had done well, and I was made to feel like a real part of the team from day one. We all get along extremely well and everybody is valued and supported regardless of position or authority. From the people I have met outside of my department, once again they treat you like a regular employee, not an intern and you are made aware of your value to the company.

My manager was consistently supportive throughout the year, if I had any problems she would sort them out straight away, if I needed help or had a lot of work to do she would always lighten the load where possible, and she has mentored me and taught me all I have needed to know in my role.

I have been fairly busy throughout the year as a whole, at peak times it has been tough, but I have never had 'too little' work to do - there is always something you can be doing to help yourself or other colleagues. During the busiest periods it can be hard to keep up, but it grows you as an individual and employee and there is always help if you feel like you need it.

I was given far more responsibility than I ever thought I would - I took on a lot of the key responsibilities in HR Administration such as probations, references etc. and for the most part have been solely responsible for this. This responsibility has helped me to feel valued by the company and my colleagues, and I feel this is really helpful in building confidence before getting my first graduate job.

The skills I have developed will give me invaluable assistance in my degree studies and beyond. Having to work 9-5 for a full year teaches you to be far more organised, productive and really helps your time management. We have taken part in Intern training that focused on time management, project management and presentation skills to name a few, and this is directly applicable to not only my final year studies, but also my future employment and career.

My office was hugely fun (and productive!!). My colleagues in my office are great fun and it is never too quiet, we all get along really well and there is always a cheerful, welcoming and approachable atmosphere

As we are only the 2nd year of a 'proper' intern programme, there is of course some things which could have been done better, but we have all been part of the feedback and planning stages for next years interns so that the company can improve it even more. Even so, this year has on the whole been fantastic and everybody seems to be very happy with what they have achieved and got out of their placement year.

The company have invested in a training programme for all interns whereby we spend 1 day a month on a different topic, as well as this any other training days are open to us if that is something we are interested in. The Learning & Development opportunities are great!

There is a potential to come back as a graduate intern for one year when we graduate if that is something the manager and yourself would like to do, so future prospects are as good as they can be for a company so large and with such a good reputation.

The social scene amongst the interns was amazing, a lot of us all lived in the same street in company accommodation, we always have nights out on the weekends, go out for meals, celebrate each others birthdays, and we've even been to Prague on an intern long weekend away!

Our cost of living was £400 per month, in terms of socialising you can spend as little or as much as you like, but the offered salary certainly covers you to have some fun with enough to spare!

It did the job - there was certainly enough places to go to cater for all needs, in terms of clubs there is a limited number but they are sufficient and there's plenty of pubs/bars/restaurants to go to. The local shopping centre and Xscape also have cinema's, bowling alley's and lots of other things to do!

There have been plenty of opportunities to do things such as Colour run, Tough Mudder, Charity Sky Dives etc, always open to anybody that is keen!