Home Entertainment Finance Intern Review

I really enjoyed my placement at The Walt Disney Company, the atmosphere in the office is great and in my role I was able to watch all the latest film releases in the Disney cinema. Besides the fun, you really get serious responsibility in your role and I have felt like an integral member of my team throughout.

I felt like an integral member of my team. They are certain financial processes that I am solely responsible for and I have definitely felt valued throughout my placement. At Disney they really don't treat the interns as deadweight, it is clear as soon as you start that the other employees see you as an equal.

Although there are no set guidelines throughout the company in terms of support and guidance, my manager put extra effort in to ensuring I was happy and helping out with any CV/future job prospect queries I may have. Having said that, I know a few interns who haven't had this same help as I had so I guess it depends on who your manager is.

In my role there were busy periods and not so busy periods. In the busy periods it could get quite intense and I would often stay 30mins/an hour late so I could finish the work. However there are some less busy periods where there are no pressing deadlines but my manager always ensured that I was not sitting around doing nothing!

I was really pleased with the amount of responsibility I was given. I was solely responsible with collecting and processing monthly royalty statements and was the first point of contact to Disney's licensees across Europe. Although it could get daunting it was definitely worthwhile to feel like you were really contributing to the functioning of the team.

I think more than anything, the way I have improved my time management will help me in my final year of studies next year. Working in a team on a day-to-day basis improves your ability to organize your time and meet deadlines. Other than that, the transferrable skills like presenting and problem-solving I have picked up will no doubt help me with any further studies.

The atmosphere in the office is great. Everyone is really friendly and there are over 200 interns in the office so lots of young faces! It's casual dress code which also helps the relaxed atmosphere.

It was well organized, I can't think of anything that could have been done better. There are events throughout the year for the interns and the interns get involved in company wide events as well.

There are no set guidelines throughout the company, however my manager made sure to put time in to help with develop. We set goals at the beginning of the year and evaluated these goals at different points throughout the year. However other interns didn't get this treatment so it depends on your manager.

There are no Graduate programs at Disney so you would need to enter at an entry-level role.

There are around 200 interns so you are bound to meet a good group around the same age as you. In January we had a Disney Intern ball at a venue in London which was great. Other than interns, my team regularly organized drinks about once a month.

Office is in Hammersmith which is fairly expensive. I lived at home so didn't experience the living costs, however general prices for food and drink are quite expensive (but standard for London)

There are a few pubs and bars in Hammersmith, but you are a tube away from anywhere in London so whatever you're after you can access it!

Yes Disney have lots of different things you can get involved in. They have a VoluntEAR scheme where they help local schools and hospitals - everyone is welcome to join this throughout the year.