Project Management Intern Review

I very much enjoyed my time at Mace Group because of the many and varying projects that I got involved with. By being placed on more than one project, I was able to understand project management processes at different stages in the project lifecycle. For example, I helped to undertake a due diligence exercise of project proposals which can occur very early in a project whereas on another project I was involved in the handover stage, which occurs at the end of the project lifecycle.

The responsibilities that I was given early on were very stretching and challenging. This was good as it allowed my managers to gauge my ability from the onset and subsequently acquire additional responsibilities throughout my placements. I believe that my work had a direct influence on the projects that I was working on and was beneficial to help my managers and to ensure that the project was keeping on track.

Mace is a very busy working environment, so a lot of decisions and daily tasks are reactive than prepared. It is your own responsibility to ask questions and ask for support from managers, who will happily help.

Some days I would be very busy, dealing with arising issues throughout the day. Depending on what stage your project is at in the lifecycle, the level of how busy you are can vary. This is why time management is so important but then when there are not pressing matters at hand it is important to utilize your time properly and effectively to mitigate the risk of have too much to do when tasks pick up again.

I was fairly surprised with the amount of responsibility that I was given on my placement. Although I was given smaller tasks, these were completely my own and involved discussions that could have to talking to the client one minute and the contractor the next.

As someone from a technical civil engineering background of work experience, this placement has allowed me to see the how construction processes and tasks occur outside of single options and detailed design stages of the project lifecycle. Project Management is an important aspect of any modern day construction and therefore, I believe this experience will help me enormously for my future career.

Very good, colleagues evidently work very hard but still manage to make it out on a Thursday night and Friday night for a quiet drink. There is also a social committee that sort out events throughout the year.

Very well organized, from day inductions and meeting with HR to meeting with directors of your sector and finally your managers. Mace have a system of keeping HR updated on your progress throughout your placement to ensure that you are getting the best out of it.

A lot of 'extra' development came in the form of site visits and meeting with managers to discuss options and careers within the company. My manager personally signed me up for a learning development course on Coursera to develop my skills. However, it may be useful for Mace to put interns through the CSCS card exam as this will allow interns to go to site with a safer mindset and allows them to walk around unattended.

The graduate programme provides a very competitive salary and career progression within the company.

Yes.

London is a very expensive place to live and work in London. For this reason I commute from home (Kent).

Many local pubs in Moorgate where social events occur. For those willing to stay for a few later drinks on a Friday, then Shoreditch is just round the corner.

Not really.