This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
The placement was great. The program is built around you and what you want to gain from it. Everyone around you wants you to learn and expand your knowledge and want you to succeed. The learning opportunities are many in this internship as there are so many departments to go and work with for a day or a few hours and find out more about those departments.
From day one all my colleagues made me feel welcome and valued. They took time out of their busy schedules to get to know me and understand my learning needs to find out in what way they can help. Everyone is very approachable and open to talk to.
My line manager was superb. He gave me all the support I needed and guided me in the right direction for who I need to contact for various tours or learning opportunities. Whatever I needed I could ask my manager and would receive a reply immediately. He valued my learning and also supported me to promote my ideas in meetings and truly valued my knowledge and potential.
I was relatively busy from day to day and never had any moments of boredom or not having work to do. I was not overloaded with work either allowing me to develop myself through other learning methods. When I would finish some work then I would just ask for more so it depends on how much you want to gain out of the internship and how you want to work.
I was given many responsibilities during my meeting from running workshops to chairing meetings, all because my team and my manager encouraged me to take on these challenges to help me develop myself.
Even though as a computer scientist I did not use many IT skills such as programming, I did learn a lot about managing my time, how to talk to others in a professional manner and how to succeed in a workplace which will help me when working on my dissertation.
The Company
Everyone was very energetic and happy which made the atmosphere very positive. There was a great balance between having fun at work and also working hard.
The internship was well organised as you could contact the early careers team easily to find out any more information you might need. You are also given a clear program of when and where different events are during the internship so that you can plan your time around them.
RBS really value you and want you to develop. I found that I had a lot of enthusiasm for my development and was constantly encouraged to find out more about other departments and how I can develop myself.
Flexi Time
Sports and Social Club
Subsidised/Company Gym
Working from home
Very appealing, there is a Graduate Scheme with the organisation which if you are successful after the internship you are offered a position on it. I believe that if I am offered a position I will accept it as the Graduate scheme offers some great opportunities.
The Culture
Yes, there was lots of events and the interns would organise different events quite often.
As the internship takes place during the summer months, accommodation can be quite pricey. Some interns rented out a room in student accommodation but this can get very very expensive, close to 700 pounds a month. What I would suggest is searching to find someone who is subletting a room in Edinburgh - usually quite a few available and this will cost you around 400 pounds a month. Going out is relatively cheap.
I'm not a great clubbing fan but there are many many great bars in the city centre.
There is a sports and social council which you can get in touch with and get involved with. There are also many sports centres and volunteering opportunities available in Edinburgh.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
Banking, Customer Service, Information Technology
Scotland
August 2017