Intern Review

The placement was very well structured, with exceptional day-to-day variety, making the work feel dynamic and exciting. The Insight Training Sessions that ran frequently throughout the course of the internship added the value of being able to learn about teams you weren't working with. Also there was a good social life surrounding the internship.

Everyone in the company was very patient and supportive. It was clear how much M&G values their interns as no one was ever too busy to spend time helping them out. I appreciated being trusted with larger/more technical pieces of work because it was reassuring to know your colleagues trusted you to do them.

The amount of contact I had with my managers was great - we caught up daily, they always had time to ask all my questions, which was especially helpful towards the beginning, and they made a big effort to really invest in me and make sure I was having a good time/getting the most out of my internship.

Due to the nature of my team this really varied depending on what was going on at the time. I definitely preferred times when I had my own independent projects to be getting on with in the background. At quieter times, I think more of this type of work would have been appreciated. However it is important to be able to productively keep yourself occupied.

The amount of responsibility I was given was gradually increased throughout the internship, so wasn't overwhelming at the start. What was reassuring was that I knew the work that I was doing was checked by my manager before sent out externally, so I wasn't afraid of making mistakes as I knew they would be rectified. This also meant I could get good feedback on each piece of work.

I think the specific technical skills learnt won't necessarily be applied in my degree as they are not particularly relevant to my degree subject. However this knowledge could be applied to a future job in a similar field. The soft skills learnt could be applied to any situations, and are very valuable life skills.

The atmosphere was relatively relaxed; I felt as if I could ask questions or chat without being overheard. I was fortunate to be placed with a team who all seemed to get on well, be friends whilst still working well together. Whilst the atmosphere was relaxed, it still maintained a professional environment.

The organisation was one of the greatest strengths of the internship; we had regular training session as a whole intern cohort, as well as meetings with HR as we went along. As all the interns would put into different teams throughout the business, your experience was very much dictated by the team you were put in. Whilst I was very happy with the team I worked in, I think it may have been beneficial for some if there had been more of a conversation about this before arrival i.e. to establish the types of things people found interesting / the areas they wanted to work in.

We had very regular insight sessions which aimed to show different aspects of the company, so you could familiarise yourself with areas you might not otherwise have exposure to. Whilst these were very useful, it may have been beneficial to have additional training on the technicalities of a job in finance. This may have been because it didn't seem relevant to a commercial scheme, however I believe it would have helped greatly, especially in the initial stages of the internship.

There was an assessment centre in the final week which operated to potentially pipeline you into a graduate job. Whilst a lot of the current graduates came from the internship, the competitive nature of the number of interns taken on means that the grad job is by no means a guarantee.

There were social events organised by HR throughout which were good to get to know the other interns. The majority of socialising occurred at after work/in lunch breaks and people seemed to get on really well as a cohort. This made the experience enjoyable as there were people having shared experiences.

My understanding is that there are lots of opportunities within the company to take part in sports and other activities outside of work, however I don't think these were made available/made known to the interns.