Finance Executive Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement year and would highly recommend to any other student who would be considering a year in industry. I have learnt more than I could of ever imagined, making this year one of the most valuable experiences. Despite sometimes feeling out of my depth, I have accomplished great achievements and developed many skills.  

Pernod Ricard is a relaxed, social company where all colleagues are friendly and welcoming. This automatically made me feel valued, helped by the fact that from my first day I was treated like any other employee. As the finance intern based in the small financial reporting team, I was given lots of responsibility and my work performance was consistently reviewed each month. Together, these factors make it clear that Pernod invests time in making a good working environment, resulting in employee’s feeling valued and therefore motivated.

The financial reporting and analysis team at Pernod Ricard is relatively small, which can sometimes make it difficult to been given support at all times. This is because of intense workloads which can sometimes result in time for guidance/mentoring/support being sacrificed. However, whenever I had a question, there was always someone who could answer it. Regular one to one meetings with my line manager also helped with support and guidance; taking time out away from the desk to sit down and give me an opportunity to voice any concerns that I may have helped with supporting me through my placement year.

Very busy. There is constantly work to be done, with my job list being extremely long at most parts of the year. It is only me and my line manager who produces financial reports which are distributed to the company, which is why work loads are so heavy. This works well for me as I would prefer to be busy than short on tasks to do. However, it did lead to intense pressure trying to manage all deadlines and working extra hours. This has helped increased my capability of prioritising work  and also my time management skills.

I was given a lot of responsibility. All of the work which I produce is valuable and required for further analysis. At the end of each month I am responsible for creating an information pack to send to Directors, outlining the company's financial performance. I also have to assist in reporting our monthly numbers to Paris (headquarters). If these reports are inaccurate, it can cause great problems and reflects badly on the UK as an affiliate of Pernod Ricard.

I didn’t have to complete any formal training for the role. A significant proportion of the skills developed during my year on placement were my soft skills, such as time management, communication, project management and accuracy. These improvements will be invaluable to me when I return to university and in my future career. I now have a strong understanding of an organisation and how different departments and people interact; skills that are more difficult to learn through lectures or a textbook. I have also developed my excel skills immensely. My excel capabilities have improved to levels I didn’t think I could reach. I look forward to using these in a different situation at a later point in my career/education.

Pernod Ricard's key word is 'conviviality', meaning the atmosphere in the office is always positive. Colleagues are always really friendly, making conversation at the tea point and lunch. The office is open planned with  large windows meaning its always light, which helps a lot.

The placement was organised by a graduate recruitment agency called 'bright futures', who dealt with the process extremely well. The process of being offered the placement was significantly fast from my first interview to the job offer. Bright futures help and guide you a long the way however making the application process less daunting. After receiving the offer, Pernod Ricard themselves organised the placement efficiently, with regular contact prior to starting. On my first day, everything was in place ready for me to begin.

Due to the level of responsibility held in my role, I feel as though the company has heavily invested in me. They have taken a lot of time to train me on the job, to a standard which allows me to produce work for other members of the company without my manager having to intervene. I feel as though there could be slightly more resources invested in interns, in relation to formal training opportunities and courses. The transition can at times be difficult, with team members forgetting how little you actually know prior to starting the role.

There isn't a graduate scheme for the roles that the placement scheme offers. There is a graduate scheme within commercial and sales, however this doesn’t relate to any of the roles the interns carry out whilst on their year in industry. However, there are a few examples of bright future interns that have returned after university into a full time position; the opportunity is there if you are keen, make a good impression, and there's a role within the department you are interested in. I believe that the Pernod placement students would be a strong candidate for these full time roles due to the time and energy the company has invested in them whilst on placement.

Certain departments have a more social scene than others; finance not being one of them. The marketing and commercial teams have regular team nights out and away days. In finance, I have had 3 social events in my year. All colleagues are really friendly however so the potential to socialise is definitely there. In terms of the interns, there are only 8 other interns on placement this year with me. I have got along really well with my fellow interns this year, however only have 8 other interns reduces the chances of getting along with others. There was only one company organised intern event this year, with a farewell dinner held in May alongside our line managers. It would have been beneficial to have more available time to allocate towards tasks not directly related to my job role. This would give the opportunity to organise more student events and meetings to help understand each other’s roles whilst being able to interact with each other. Especially as the finance and IT intern sit on the other side of the office to the other interns.

Relatively expensive. West London is more expensive to rent than east London, making the cost of carrying out a placement in Chiswick more expensive than potentially other London based Placements. London itself is more expensive that other cities, which was a shock coming from University in Manchester. Getting the tube also adds an extra cost to living in London, however the Student Oyster Card has definitely helped reduce this expense. Socialising in London is always expensive, however there are plenty of great free things in London that can be done.

The business park itself is on Chiswick high road, where there are mainly restaurants rather than bars. However the district line is right outside the park that can take you into central in 30 minutes.

Pernod Ricard has a lot of lunch time / after work activities that are available in the office such as Pilates and running club. I attended running club every Wednesday which was a great way for me to get outside during lunch time and also meet people from other departments within the company. I also know that there is a football team which train weekly and went to turkey last year for a tournament which is great if that’s your sport.  The business park itself has many sport teams where you can play against other company's on the park. This includes netball and football.