Sensodyne and Biotene Brand Team Intern Review

I really enjoyed my placement - I got a great overview of all things marketing by working on the brand team, including working with the sales and trade teams, and all of our agencies, including Creative, Media, Expert, Digital and PR.

You are a real member of the team with real responsibilities, and your acheivements are acknowledged.

I was given good support by my manager - I had weekly meetings with her as much as we both could and also had a couple of personal development plan reviews, which helped me assess my strengths and weaknesses. From this, she helped me pick projects that would help me improve and give me any exposure I needed. She also helped me arrange some work experience at the PR agency we worked with at the end of my placement. However there isn't really a formal structure for interns so the focus you get on personal development will depend on your manager.

There were times when I was really busy, but my team were supportive in helping me prioritise the really important things, so I still felt in control of the situation most of the time. I can't remember ever being bored.

I was given lots of really important projects to lead, many to do with our new product launch, and my own budgets to handle and spend. Because everyone is really busy, you get a greater degree of responsibility, and you are trusted to handle these, checking in with your manager to make sure you are on the right lines.

I learned a lot about my strengths and weaknesses within a corporate environment, which is completely different to any other. Knowing these entering a grad job will put me a step ahead. I've also been able to apply real life situations to my studies at uni. There wasn't really any formal training, but I have a lot of tacit knowledge.

Everyone was really nice and supportive, things were never personal or bitchy, and everyone was willing to help you out. However, the location of the building means spontaneous drinks didn't really happen, and people were hugely busy and often ate lunch at their desks - but the interns always went together!

I felt the internship was really well set up - it has been running for a number of years, and the teams are used to having this role filled, so they base their workload around that, meaning it is a real and essential role. You won't be bored.

Personal training and development was a bit sparse - it came second to the day to day running of the business, and as this took up all of everyone's time and more, it was rare to really spend much time on it.

There is a new Consumer Healthcare grad scheme, and whilst you are fast tracked to a telephone interview, we were originally told this would be to an assessment centre, and you get a better deal at other companies - many will take you straight to an assessment centre or have the resources to offer you a job straight away.

There is a pretty good social scene within the interns - 12 within my department and around 40 IT iterns! Within teams, we did make an effort to go out every month or so, and there were often departmental events where drinks and food were paid for. We also went out quite a bit with the agencies we worked with, as they were based in town and also had their own bars.

Even on the outskirts of London, the cheapest rent per week not including bills was around £110 lowest. Socialising meant going into London which was expensive - the bigger clubs will charge you £20 just to get in, and drinks are pricey. Food is a standard price, but we ended up having to shop at smaller shops like Tesco Express which was expensive.

In Brentford - nothing! Depending on where you lived, it was usually quite easy to get into central London, although getting back could be hit and miss. Once you were in London, there's obviously loads of places to go if you have the money!

Some of the guys joined the football team, and I often went to gym classes with other people in the department. We also all have an Orange Day, where you get a ay off to do charity work together.