Consumer Vulnerability Advisor Review

I really enjoyed the placement. I was pleasantly surprised by the independence I was given with my work and the variety in my work objectives. The culture at Centrica is very friendly towards summer interns and employees were happy to help you and speak with you about there work. Accommodation was also provided and paid for which was very generous.

During my placement I was always made to feel like my work had value and that it would have a genuine impact on the business. The team were also very helpful in signposting me to other employees and teams if my work required input from other areas. My team were always appreciative of my work and gave good feedback. I also appreciated in being invited to all team meetings and teleconference calls from day 1, this made me feel like a integrated team member much more quickly.

There is a great support network at Centrica. Firstly, you are assigned line manager who is your main point of contact. My manager was very friendly and mostly available during work hours in person or via mobile or email. My manager had a weekly one-one meeting with me to discuss my work for the next week and how I was finding the placement etc. There is also a graduate-buddy scheme in which graduates who are on the graduate programme corresponding to your placement stream host a weekly phone call with all the interns on the same stream as you. During this call the interns have a catch up sharing biggest challenges and learnings through the week.

I had a good workload throughout the placement overall, I felt like I had plenty to do without feeling overwhelmed. My day generally consisted of a couple of meetings and/or calls, completing smaller tasks with shorter timescales as well as working towards my main tasks over the 10 weeks. I also felt I could openly discuss my workload with my manager if I felt the balance wasn't right.

I was given much more responsibility and independence during my placement than expected. The I was given complete ownership over my main objectives, writing a digital review of the British Gas website and organising and leading Dementia Friends information sessions. Managing the timescales, booking rooms, ordering resources, organising meetings or calls with key stakeholders was all my responsibility.

I was given the opportunity to develop my presentation skills during the placement. This was in both presenting my work to teams within the business but also through a professional training organised by the graduate team. I found both really helpful in increasing my confidence in this skill. Time management, business communication and the ability to engage with key stakeholders were all skills I was able to develop through day to day working. We had a development day organised by the graduate team too, designed to develop communication and team working skills.

The atmosphere was good, everyone was very friendly and happy for you to ask a quick question. The only time office atmosphere lacked was on Fridays when most of the team worked from home, whereas I would still work from the office and it could sometimes be just myself sat in my team's area.

The accommodation was paid for and provided which was really helpful both financially and in finding somewhere to stay close by. I also got the impression that the team were well prepared for my arrival with tasks and objectives in place for me during my training. Phone calls from both my manager and grad-buddy were arranged ahead of the placement so I had a better idea of what to expect. The team had also organised a day's training and a day shadowing a smart engineer ahead of arrival.

The atmosphere was good, everyone was very friendly and happy for you to ask a quick question. The only time office atmosphere lacked was on Fridays when most of the team worked from home, whereas I would still work from the office and it could sometimes be just myself sat in my team's area. The team were also very generous in allowing me to attend external meetings and visit other sites to increase my business exposure and all travel costs were covered by the business.

I would very much like to receive an offer from Centrica on their graduate programme and continue to work within the business following graduation. The graduates I have spoken with seem to be enjoying their experience very much and I would like to be involved with such a highly regarded stream.

The southern-based interns this year were all provided accommodation at Royal Holloway University of London. I shared a flat with seven other interns. This meant that there was a strong intern community established and the majority of us socialised together in the evenings and during the weekends whether that be in the flats or going into Egham, Staines, Windsor or London.

The cost of living was quite reasonable, train transport is well priced, it's only £3.50 return to Windsor or £9 return to London with a railcard. There is also a large Tesco in Egham so food was not too expensive. Taxis were quite expensive however, if you are wanting to go into Windsor for an evening.

The nightlife in Egham itself is quite quiet with only a few pubs. Staines offers a few more places to go out, including bars, cocktail bars and cinema etc. Windsor offers more bars and a few clubs but is further from the provided accommodation and can therefore lead to a quite expensive night with taxis and a typical club entry of £10. London is also an option, with London Waterloo only an hour away on the train.

The summer placement programme encourages you to get involved with volunteering. There are also gym facilities at Royal Holloway accommodation, which offers classes over the summer period too so multiple interns attended these together. I think there were also football matches organised between interns and some of the graduates as well.