Intern Review

I enjoyed the insight very much. Before coming to Savills I had no experience whatsoever in the professional world. In that sense it was very insightful and pleasing to see how employees work and interact in a professional environment. I think this experience has had a very strong impact on my outlook, regardless of whether I eventually work for the company or not.

Throughout the internship, there have been numerous social events and occasions where I was able to interact with employees from a variety of different teams. In this sense, I did feel valued, because it is always nice to meet people who have gone through a similar process to you, and, even more so than that, actually respect you and are interested in your journey. On the other hand, I feel like within my team I was given the majority of menial jobs, and whilst I understand I am only an intern - and therefore am by no means an expert in this field - it would've been good experience to have been given a larger role within my team.

Savills is incredibly supportive. Whenever I had a query my team always were quick to help me out and give me genuine, helpful advice. I didn't feel like a burden at all; and even the HR team were very friendly and accommodating. The reason this is 9 and not 10 stars is because they were a bit slow to replying to emails, although this can be expected from a busy department.

Although I technically am a cognate student (Land Economy BA at Cambridge), my studies there are not in any way related to a technical property career. Unlike other degrees, such as the Real Estate MSc at Reading, Land Economy includes no technical or practical application - and therefore the experience I have had will only benefit me when I get a job.

I have felt like the insight has been very structured. Right from the off, I was aware of things happening in the future weeks, and was always aware of deadlines for projects and reports that I was meant to do. There were event dates set out from the very first day, and this made it very easy to know what was going on.

The atmosphere at Savills is a very laid back one. Everyone seems very easy going and friendly, and it was a pleasure to work there. People are very independent, and I think it's incredibly relieving that there isn't an overarching sense of doom when you're swiftly approaching your deadline and you haven't yet finished your work.

For my team there wasn't really a lot of personal training required, but even still I was supported very well and whenever I had a question or query I was always helped very well. I can't complain about my development throughout the process either, as I was surrounded by incredibly supportive people.

The beauty of working at Savills (some might say) is the fact that the Directors and the Graduates sit side by side; and, as an intern, I was right in the mix too. I got to see first hand what the Directors got up to, and this was interesting to say the least.

Right from the get go I got a good impression regarding the company culture. Just from hearing office chat I could pick up on certain events that occur, clubs and team sports that run, and general activities that go down amongst the employees. I believe I have a very good understanding of Savills' culture.

I only rate this lowly because the experience has been so successful in making me interested in different teams and departments. I have spoken to many employees from all over the company, and I now want to gain experience working in completely different sectors. I would say this is a positive of the scheme, regardless of the low star score.

Although this is my first taste of work, I was a little bit disappointed with the pay. I know of other internships in the same sector, and I would have thought that Savills (being one of the biggest players in the industry) would give their interns slightly more than they do.

There were many, many opportunities for networking. I was actually quite surprised at how eager Savills are to get us talking to Directors and senior members of staff. It has been refreshing to say the least. I have spoken to many people from all over the company and have hopefully made contacts for life.

Within the internship scheme itself there were many social events, and coupled with the lively cohort that I have been a part of during my time at Savills, this meant that I have had a very fun time here. Within my team, however, I haven't had many social opportunities, despite hearing from other interns in different teams that they have.

Savills employees are very social, and I have heard of many events and activities that I could get involved with. Sadly I wasn't around for the Commercial team v Residential team cricket match at Lord's during my third week, but I heard that this was very fun and well received by all involved.

I would definitely recommend it to a friend. Being a property giant and such a big company I would say that anyone, even if they didn't explicitly want to go down a real estate career path, would benefit from this experience just to see what it is like to work in such a friendly group.