Commercial Finance Intern Review

My placement at The Walt Disney Company was made an enjoyable experience by the people I worked with, as there are a lot of other interns there, and the management are all really nice. However, due to reasons specific to my particulr role, I didn't always have enough work to do and so didn't always enjoy my placement. However, I know that most other interns who weren't affected by this really enjoyed their internship.

The management make you feel valued by giving you good praise when you've completed work well, and also provide useful feedback. However, due to my specific role being changed, there was not always enough work for me. This led to me feeling undervalued by management, and underutilised. However, it's important to note that this is not the case in general, and most other interns felt very valued in their roles.

The support provided is excellent. My manager had weekly 1 to 1s with me discussing my workload, and they also conduct reviews every 3 months to assess how you're getting on, give feedback, and set goals to make sure you get the most out of your placement year. My manager also helped me to prioritse tasks if my workload was too big.

Work tends to come in bursts, so sometimes you can be not very busy with just general adhoc tasks to be getting on with, and then multiple managers may come to you with various projects all at once. However, they are very careful not to overload you, and you are always encouraged to manage expectations and be open about the work you have on.

I was not given a great deal of responsibility during my placement, purely due to the nature of my role not allowing for much. However, I definitely felt trusted by the managers, and you are always able to ask for more projects to work on, and thus be more responsible for.

The professional skills I learnt during my time at Disney were excellent, for example how to manage expectations, and how to prioritise tasks. I will be able to use these skills in future employment and they will definitely prove beneficial. There are also lots of training opportunities to improve things like presentation skills, which will be very useful both back at university and in future jobs.

The atmosphere in the office is very pleasant. It's relatively laid-back, which means you always feel comfortable and it is much easier to casually interact with all levels of management. It can be very busy at times, as with all offices, but managers are always willing to help you with queries, and there is also a good level of social chat at times, creating a fun and enjoyable atmosphere.

The placement is organised very well. When you start, you have a week-long handover with the previous intern, where they train you up on all the systems, introduce you to everyone, and show you what you'll be doing. This is really helpful for easing you in, and is a great opportunity to ask any questions. After that, you get quarterly reviews with your manager to see how you've settled in, review your progress, and set targets.

There are a lot of training opportunities that you can sign up for, that the company fund. These range from presenation skills to leadership to creativity, so there is something for everyone. Also, if there is a particular area you would like to develop in, your manager will try and accomodate for you, and look into specific training opportunities.

Although I enjoyed my placement year at Disney, and it really is a great company, I don't think I would go back in the future. This placement has been really useful in showing me what I do and don't want in a company that I work for, in terms of structure/progression etc. I can take a lot of what I've learnt and apply it to my future job searches instead.

The social scene amongst the placement students is great! There's a lot of interns in each department, so it's easy to make friends and go to the pub after work etc. We also threw a Christmas 'Wintern' Ball, where all of the interns (200ish) went for dinner then drinks at a bar in the centre. There are also a good amount of events that involve all colleagues in the team and give you a chance to socialise outside of work.

I worked in London, so it was pretty expensive. My rent was a lot but it was worth paying to live in a nice, safe area. However, there were some relatively cheap pubs near the office, and it was definitely a bit cheaper than if the office was located in Central London.

There's some great pubs nearby, and the office isn't far on the tube to more central parts of London with more clubs and bars. Obviously as it's London a lot of places are really expensive, but there are a few cheaper places that you can find which are a really night out. There are 24 hour tube lines as well so it's easy to get places.

There wasn't loads of opportunities to get involved in activites, but there was definitely some. On the company intranet there were advertisements year-round for discounted gym memberships etc. Also, as there are a lot of interns there were quite a few invites to join 5 a side and other activities.