Finance Intern Review

I have really enjoyed my placement at Virgin Media because it has provided me with an opportunity to have proper responsibility, for example by running month end reports, and managing stakeholders, through having direct contact with them. Additionally, the graduate and intern community at Virgin Media is very supportive, social and inclusive which has helped shape postiive experiences throughout the year.

I believe my team valued me greatly, seeing as I was responsible for managing one build director out of six. My team would come to me to ask for help or advice with subjects that they mattered with, and anything regarding my area I belive I was regarded as a subject matter expert so my team would approach me for any queries with regards to that.

My current manager is very supportive, providing me with time and advice to develop and create reports, as well as my soft skills. My manager provides me with numerous opportunities to develop and supports me in doing so, as well as allowing me to handle my stakeholders with little interference.

As this is a finance role, my month end timetable was very busy. Up to working day 8 of every month, my days were particularly busy due to reporting on month end figures and statistics from the previous month. Outside of month end, my days were relatively busy due to me choosing what activities I should be undertaking.

I was given lots of responsibility, as mentioned before, due to directly managing stakeholders within my area. This involved numerous interactions with Head of Departments and Build Directors, particularly creating reports for things they requested to have line of sight towards. Additionally, I was given social responsibility within our team to organise outside of work socials and team charity days.

Due to my role sitting within the finance function, my Microsoft Excel skills have particularly developed which will help with some modules in final year that requre report creation due to knowing what formulae to input and how to create models. Furthermore, my soft skills such as communication and perseverence have also developed since being in an office environment.

The atmosphere in my office was a little bit subdued due to the company moving offices later on in the year and the introduction of an internal policy called 'SMART working' which enables employees to work from home twice a week. However, I belive once the company moves to its new offices then the atmosphere will be completely different due to redesigns!

Compared to other schemes, this scheme is particularly well structured and organised, with monthly meetings with the scheme leads to ensure you are developing both personally and professionally. During the year, it was also made obvious who you should approach if you do have an issue either inside or outside of work, meaninig you felt well supported.

Virgin Media provided many opportunities for interns to develop, through providing numerous courses for us to attend including ones on presenting, handling stakeholders, building your confidence and networking, amongst many others. Additionally, this training was supported by senior management which allowed time outside of the courses set up by the company for learning and development.

The graduate scheme at Virgin Media, for Finance Interns, is very appealing, due to knowing how the internal systems work and run. Additionally, the support we have received on the intern scheme is similar to the support we should receive on the graduate scheme, which is very appealing. Plus, Virgin Media provide opportunities to train towards a CIMA qualification, with 5 days study leave per exam, which many other companies don't provide as generous study leave.

The graduate and intern community at Virgin Media is very strong, with the grad scheme having their own committee to organise and run social and work events. Throughout the year, there have been numerous graduate events, including quarterly finance meetings which involve meeting senior management and other graduates. Furthermore, there was a graduate ball which included all the graduates from Virgin, as well as other OpCos, so with over 200 graduates attending this was a great event!

As Reading is a commuter town to London, rent was relatively expensive, however because it is also a university town the cost of socialising wasn't bad.

The Virgin Media office is currently based in Hook, a small town in Hampshire, meaning the nightlife here was pretty non-existent. However, later in the year the office is moving into Reading where there are numerous university students meaning the nightlife in Reading is quite good, with numerous clubs, pubs, restaurants and cocktail places!

Apart from graduate socials, there were limited opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work. However, if you wanted to organise something yourself then everyone would be open to this.