Spring Programme Review

The department I was placed in wasn't my first choice, but I still had a really good time and even considered a job in the department afterwards; before I wouldn't even have considered it.

Everyone was really busy but they still made sure they found at least an hour or two to have a coffee with me, or show me what they were working on, and explain it all in great detail to someone who knew very little about the topics.

My manager was brilliant and supported me for the whole week, making sure I knew exactly what I should and could be doing every day. He arranged time out of his schedule every day to meet up with me and discuss how the week was going.

Before I arrived, a timetable was planned to show me exactly which people I was meeting when, and this filled up most hours in the day. For any down time I had I was given a options on what to do.

I helped put together an instructional document on a piece of software that was to be used for a significant portion of the company.

I learnt a huge number of skills that I could use in my future career as it was my first experience in a large London company. I mainly learnt about professional behaviour and how to act in an office environment, especially regarding email and meeting scheduling. In particular, the employees schedule a strict end time for every meeting, which is now something I do in my degree and life now to ensure that I don't waste time by allow activities spill over.

The employees were so passionate about what they did and were keen to show me what they were doing. Everyone was friendly and, as the office was open plan, collaboration was encouraged and you could see what everyone was up to all the time.

I knew exactly what I was going to be doing in the week long before I even arrived in the company. Everything was emailed to me in advance and there were a large amount of activities put on for our benefit. Everything worked perfectly.

The company put on training sessions on the first morning and last afternoon, and every lunchtime in the week to train up our business and commercial awareness skills, as well as networking and presentation skills. Top managers and training staff were brought in to conduct the sessions.

At the end of the week I was offered a full internship for the next summer.

We went out for meals and drinks when we were free on nights and all keep in touch now. For those of us that have been offered a summer internship for the next year, we're planning to share a house together.

Cost of living unknown as the company provided accommodation, but the cost of other living was generally reasonable for London.

If you like pubs/bars there were plenty of them. Otherwise, it's very easy to travel to almost anything you want to do very easily.

Networking meals were the main thing for us, but had we stayed there longer I am sure there were plenty of community schemes we could participate in.