Consultancy Trainee Review

The work was extremely enjoyable, my colleagues were friendly and approachable, and the culture complimented these features well. All of the interns were treated as if they were new joiners to the company, with real work and responsibilities from the start, rather than being given trivial tasks or practice exercises to complete. Overall, I loved my time on the placement, and cannot wait to return there next year for full time employment.

My colleagues were friendly and supportive during work, and gave regular constructive feedback. This atmosphere, alongside the high profile nature of the work allocated, led to a feeling of being a valued member of the team, whose commitment and contributions were seen as important. In more social settings, colleagues continued to be friendly and interested, and would often strike up conversation, irrespective of the difference in seniority, allowing for a friendly atmosphere to be maintained both inside and outside the office.

feedback and training was provided as work progressed, allowing for continuous improvement and development. More formal written feedback at the end of projects was also provided as part of assessment, which could then be discussed with project leads, and the internship organisers. If we felt uncomfortable or unsure as to whether to approach management with an issue, a buddy system was also in place.

The vast majority of days I had a suitable workload, with enough work set to cover 9am till 6-7pm each day, and the occasional late evening. These assignments were often either a collection of related tasks that were then completed over the following 2-3 days, or were smaller tasks, set that day for immediate completion. If I completed assignments early, then project leads were usually immediately available to approve the work done, and provide new tasks. The only time where this did not happen was close to project completion, when there was little else to be done, or when team members were elsewhere and may take time to respond.

All of the work set was real project work, and mostly client facing. This included the creation of deep dive packs, financial modelling, updating and modifying presentation decks, support during client workshops and market research. Due to working in a small team of 2-4 people, the impact that my work had was noticeable, and as a consequence, very rewarding. The only work which interns did not get heavily involved in was actually presenting to clients, due to our relative lack of experience.

I came to the internship in Strategy Consulting from a different degree background, and with minimal real world practical experience of the world of work; the internship has very much rectified that lack of experience. My two months provided me with a wide variety of both hard and soft skills, including more advanced knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint features, the logical steps required to produce a strategy, and the various ways to present information to a client.

I came to the internship in Strategy Consulting from a different degree background, and with minimal real world practical experience of the world of work; the internship has very much rectified that lack of experience. My two months provided me with a wide variety of both hard and soft skills, including more advanced knowledge of Excel and PowerPoint features, the logical steps required to produce a strategy, and the various ways to present information to a client.

Could be much better organised. I was assigned a champion who only met with me once. I also had a buddy, who was always at hand. We were meant to have a meeting halfway through with HR, but that never happened. The internship could have benefitted from a bit more structure. There were also only two socials for interns.

Could be much better organised. I was assigned a champion who only met with me once. I also had a buddy, who was always at hand. We were meant to have a meeting halfway through with HR, but that never happened. The internship could have benefitted from a bit more structure. There were also only two socials for interns.

I felt the company invested a fair amount of money in me, mostly through informal, peer-to-peer learning, as a lot of the time quite senior members of the team spent their time on teaching me new things. It was in effect 6 weeks of learning that I was compensated for.

You have to reapply to the graduate scheme, lots of emphasis put on the fact that if you dont put the effort in during your placement you may not be eligible, but the fact that you get direct entry to assessment center for grad application, gives you a higher chance.

All of the interns got on well with each other, and regularly went for lunch or drinks together outside of the social activities that were organised by the firm. As we all had a variety of backgrounds and skills, we also helped each other where possible, so as to ensure as much support as possible. There were occasions where socialising with other interns was difficult due to them working from client sites elsewhere in the country/abroad, but even during these periods they usually returned to London for Friday.

It was Central London, so costly. However, almost all of the events provided by the firm had free food and/or drinks (and generous amounts thereof), so paying for socialising was largely a rarity. I'm addition, the internship was a paid position, with the salary more than enough to cover the cost of my accommodation, travel and living expenses, with some money left over afterwards.

The nightlife in the area I worked was very limited, but most placement students don't live in the direct vicinity of the workplace. In the area that I lived the nightlife was very active, being only a short tube journey away from central London and also having lots to do in the local area, such as bars and clubs.

I personally have got involved in lots of activities outside of work, joining a local football team, going to a local church and being involved in many of the events that they were running. However, I do think that this is more down to the individual than what is available, given that you only have few months with which to be a part of it. There were lots of opportunities available though.