Intern Review

Really great internship, learnt so much.

Really supportive team, did sometimes feel like 'just an intern' though

Busy but positive.

Blue Arrow was used and they were terrible. Issues include: Not receiving confirmation of completing the screening process before we started or not being able to work the first few days as the screening process was not concluded. 3 weeks into my internship I have still not heard back on the process for a former employment that I was told needed more evidence or received confirmation that I have passed the screening. Documents being requested on 24 hour deadlines which are very difficult for students, who may not know what these documents are, often don’t live at home where their documents are stored and may be in exam season. Two long forms being requested, one on a 24 hour deadline, that asked for exactly the same information. Duplication of processes caused unnecessary bureaucracy which could have been avoided by sharing this information between their teams. Threats of own internships being cancelled if we do not get documents in fast enough, even when we were doing as much as possible to provide them with what they asked for, and then not getting confirmation they have received all the necessary documents. These threats caused many interns unnecessary stress and worry. Complete lack of communication between the Blue Arrow team and being processed by multiple team members who do not share information between themselves. For example, I was asked for documents by a colleague, so I sent them to her and was then phoned by another colleague to ask why I hadn’t sent them because the documents hadn’t been shared between the two of them. Lack of communication of basic facts of each case such as; where their internship is, when they are starting and where they are currently based. As information such as current location and therefore time zone where not shared I was called at 5:30am by a Blue Arrow team member who hadn’t been passed on the basic information. This also leads to interns having to constantly repeat the same information. Lack of clarity of procedures and staff were unaware of how things work, such as holiday pay. Being contacted by multiple team members asking for different things and not knowing who our main point of contact was. Holiday pay not being paid until after we have accrued all the necessary hours. For interns who take time off at the start of their internship, they will not be paid for this until weeks later.

There was a lot of online learning available for those who wanted it.

Clear option to go onto the grad scheme.

London is always pricey.