CEE Sales Intern Review

This placement is everything that I was looking for in this stage of my education. I am unsure of which business sector I would like to pursue a career in and this placement has allowed me to gain a greater insight into a variety of areas of business from Sales to Finance to Legal and more! The work varies from week to week with ad-hoc tasks as well as different on-going projects to work on so everyday is different and challenging in new ways.

This role is very far from the stereotypical "intern job" as the team really value your opinion and strive to make you feel as much a part of the team as they are. From the very beginning you will be tasked with jobs which will play an important part of different projects for both the immediate and wider team. The team welcome any suggestions you have to improve efficiency of best work practices and will also help you with any areas that you wish to improve on yourself.

From the start of the placement bi-weekly catch-ups were organised wherein my line manager can see what projects I am working on at the moment and this acts as an opportunity to voice any queries or concerns and also see if there are any other tasks that you could be helping with. The workload will become progressively more challenging as you advance through the placement year to ensure that no job becomes mundane or too simple for you.

As with any job there are very busy periods as well as quite quieter times however, the good thing about this role is that there are always a few on-going background projects that you can be working on. This means that no matter how quiet things get there is always something to keep you occupied. On a day to day basis I always had at least 3-5 tasks to be getting on with which would take the entirety of the work day.

Once you show the team that you can be trusted to work efficiently and cope with a multitude of tasks, the team will begin to assign you with tasks of a greater importance. The responsibility in this role stretches from helping within the team to co-ordinate tasks and assist members of the team to communicating with clients and being a representative of the company.

This placement has definitely helped me to grow as a person both in my capabilities as well as my social skills. Being a part of such a dynamic team has helped to increase confidence in areas such as public speaking/presenting and confidence in the quality of your work and your worth. Being a Sales Intern has linked closely to my degree and therefore I have been able to put some of the theory from my education into practise and expand upon them

Compared to other companies, The Walt Disney Company has a very vibrant atmosphere with a lot of events and things to get involved in. The open plan office allows for a good community vibe and allows you to get to know people from other teams. There's always some sort of buzz in the office with people talking about upcoming shows or promotions and other things to get excited about.

This is a placement that is very much what you make of it. If you come to work with an appetite to learn and improve upon the day before then you will get a lot out of the experience. There is a lot of flexibility and you can sway the internship to focus on more of the areas that you have an interest in due to the variety of tasks and events going on

There are many opportunities to develop your personal skills either by speaking to your line manager about the type of tasks you would prefer to work on or by getting involved in the various work groups in the company. Office skills such as excel, powerpoint and presenting are almost definitely going to improve after completing this placement year.

The Walt Disney Company doesn't currently offer a graduate scheme so there is less of a direct scheme to get back into the company after completing a placement year. However, a lot of the full-time employees started off as interns and then came back once a position opened up. If you make a good impression and create a strong base during your time here then the chance of coming back will stay open should the right job become available

There are so many interns here that there are always going to be people with similar interests. For the most part interns will tend to stick with the others on their floor or any others that they interact with. There are some events such as the intern winter ball however any events are arranged by the interns themselves

As with anywhere in central London the prices are not cheap but this is to be expected. Some places will do specials for students which will lower the costs of a night out and the company itself offers some discounts on local eateries but apart from that it can be quite pricey.

In Hammersmith itself there are quite a few bars but by being in London you are only ever a short tube ride away from the centre which oobviously has more of a nightlife than the area surrounding the office. People tend to go out for drinks after work when it comes to the summer and once the summer flexible hours are introduced

The company has a lot of different communities and groups to get involved in such as the Disney choir, Women at Disney, Disney VoluntEars and other such groups. There is always the opportunity to get involved in this groups no matter which stage of the placement you are at, just show an interest and mention it to your line manager and you will be able to take part