Summer Intern Building Consultancy Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement with Cushman, I learnt so much about the industry I am going into and how the business works. I was based in the Building Consultancy team, this I came to realise covered many different areas of work which I got to get involved in. I had the opportunity to visit plenty of sites from larger projects to house refurbishments; this is something I really enjoyed as it gets you out of the office and see everything first hand.

I got on really well with everyone within my team. It is a big company and it could be easy to feel lost, but I never got that feeling. Cushman has a very flat structure, so you’ll be working alongside graduates to partners, this could have been daunting, but they were all very welcoming. I got on really well with the other interns on the placement and went on a few socials and meet ups which was a real bonus.

I was given a buddy on the first day, this was one of the graduates. It was their job to give you jobs to do and organise stuff for you to do. In terms of support, everyone within the team was helpful if I needed anything and a lot of the information I needed I could find online. But at no point did I feel like I was out of my depth.

Some days I had a lot to do, other days I did find I didn't have much to do. This was due to the how much work was coming into the team and it was hard at times for them to give me stuff to do (as I had no technical knowledge of anything). Some days I got to go out on site and see stuff which was really good.

There is only so much a summer intern can do with little if no technical knowledge within building consultancy, although there were some things I worked on that I was given a lot of responsibility. I did collate 26 interim dilapidations reports which gave me a good understanding of how they all fit together.

I feel that I have learnt more about Building Surveying on this month placement that I have done so far in my two years of University. I feel that the information I have picked up along the way will be extremely useful to me in my final year of studies. On that note, the contacts I have made will be useful for later down the line when I come to write my dissertation and need to produce questionnaires. Alos I can sent them any work I have to check as I plan to stay in contact with them all.

I think it was a very relaxed office in comparison to some. The general atmosphere was pleasant and everyone seemed friendly. The office is very large, so you only really get to know your own team, but that is to be expected. My team weee all really nice, took me out for drinks and stuff which was good.

I think it wad really well organised, the HR did a great job! There was around 20 or so interns at the same time and by the end I got to know them all really well. they had is do a presentation in the last week which we had to prepare for. We got a presentation training session and had to meet up in our teams which was a great team working task.

As it was only a one month summer placement the company cant and don't have the chance to invest in you, so this is somewhat hard to judge. They did ask me to stay on for the rest of summer but I couldn't do this sadly. I would say however, that the people in my team did invest there time in me and for someone who is not bringing anything to the business they spent some time teaching me various aspects.

Very good, they offer a great graduate scheme and having done a summer placement with them. They offered me a graduate job on the last day!!! All the graduates I have spoken to have really enjoyed themselves as well which is a good sign. It seems like a really good company to climb the ladder.

Ended up going for drinks in London quite a lot after work (very expensive), which was really good. Made some great friends in my time here, who I will hopefully try stay in contact with.

I commuted from Reading to London everyday. This is fairly expensive, costing me just under £500 for a month travel card, which took a big chunk out of the payslip. On top of this, London is inherently expensive for food and drinks, with lunch costing me £5 at least. What became very expensive was when I went our for drinks after work!

I only went to a few pubs and stuff, never went out in London while I was there! don't think I would be able to afford it anyway!

I didn't myself, but my team did ask me to play football (but I cant play). And I was invited to cricket and also some of the other interns got to go to ascot for the day! There always seems to be something going on.