Business Management and Customer Operations Intern Review

The internship was significantly less well structured than I had expected. There was a lack of focus and direction - much of the time we were left to fend for ourselves as our managers didn't have anything for us to do, and the work they gave us was completed in less time than they had anticipated. Having said that, it was quite nice to be in a more relaxed atmosphere and not feel under pressure, but I question the quality of the experience in terms of learning and personal growth.

Most of our colleagues were extremely friendly and welcoming - especially when we were first starting, they all seemed anxious to make sure that we knew what we were doing and where we were going. However, although I felt they valued us in a social sense (we all got on very well) I feel that were were undervalued in terms of utilising our skill set. The work was not challenging enough and I feel that better use could have been made of our time here.

In the first few days I felt that we received a lot of support from our manager in terms of getting us settled in and making sure we felt at home, which was wonderful. However, subsequently we received very little formal guidance - a lot of the time we were left to our own devices and often ran out of work to do. Because there are a lot of changes being made in our division at the moment, our manager was understandably frequently engaged elsewhere whilst dealing with that - but that meant that the amount of contact we had diminished significantly as the internship progressed, and I feel that we could have done with more support throughout.

The tasks we were given to do by no means filled up the amount of time we had, so we spent a significant portion of the time with absolutely nothing to do. Very often we had whole days free with nothing scheduled - we tried our best to get on with things but there was only so much we could do. To be fair, it was better than being rushed off our feet, but firstly, it was quite boring, and secondly, it felt like a wasted opportunity - we could have been using that time to gain experience and develop our skills rather than just sitting around.

We weren't really given all that much to do, and what were were given seemed mostly fairly straightforward tasks which would have little overall impact. There also didn't seem like there was any sort of accountability - the relaxed environment made it feel like you could more or less do what you wanted which didn't really help. As temporary workers it's understandable but I would have liked to feel more included overall.

Not sure that anything I have done here will directly influence my degree studies, but hopefully will be helpful further beyond that. If nothing else it's a useful experience to have for my CV and has taught me that ideally I'd like to look for a job which is a little more fast paced and exciting which is a valuable lesson to learn. It's useful to know what you don't want to do as well as what you do - at least now I know what it's like to commute to work every day!

The atmosphere in the office was mostly really chilled and relaxed. Because the roles were not customer facing, the dress code was really relaxed which led to a comfortable working environment. Most of the colleagues were really friendly and welcoming and there was a good camaraderie between us and the other members of our team, which seemed to extend across the office as well. Overall the atmosphere was positive - people seemed quite happy working here. Also, there were a few social events organised which added to the atmosphere.

To be honest at first I wasn't too happy with it. The application process was straightforward enough, but I was unhappy with my location. I was placed in a location which meant I had a 2.5 hour commute to and from work every day, despite having given them two other preferences closer to home - and I wasn't offered accommodation as other interns were (despite the unreasonable commute) because it was considered to be a 'reasonable travel time'. Having got used to the travel I find it not so bad, and the intern event in London was well organised, but I have found the actual internship a little unstructured.

I don't feel as though they have invested in us all that much to be honest, mostly they just leave us alone. At first they said that they really wanted to make sure that we had a good experience and that we developed from it, but it hasn't quite lived up to that expectation. It feels like they don't have that much time for us and have more important things to do (which they almost certainly do, but why have interns if you don't really have time for them?) I feel that the programme as a whole is trying to invest in us, but that our specific role isn't really.

I am not sure that I would accept a job if it was offered to me, for all the reasons given previously - however, I would quite like to have it as a backup as I can think of far worse jobs and it's not paid too badly. It definitely wouldn't be my first choice. Having said that, it might be worth looking into jobs in other divisions within the same company, because they might provide quite a different experience.

There was only one other intern in my location, but there were several guys in the team around us who we were quite friendly with and we went out for drinks with them several times. We also went out for a drink with our manager. There have been a couple of social events organised but I didn't go to them because I was busy so I can't really comment. I was expecting to be placed in a larger group really so that I could get to know more people, but it's not been too bad.

The costs of living and socialising were fairly cheap, compared to where I'm used to anyway! However having to travel in every day meant I had some pretty large travel costs - upward of £100 each week - which was very annoying. Also buying lunch every day added up a bit although the canteen provided cheap drinks which was great!

To be honest I can't really comment here - having a 2.5 hour commute home every night I didn't really get involved with that

There were after work drinks every Friday but apart from that nothing much