Intern Review

Overall, I found my placement quite enjoyable. There was so much flexibility in terms of hours which was good. Friday’s hours were shorter which was a bonus, plus it gave me more motivation to get through the week. I was given tasks to work on and included in projects which was good because i liked to be kept busy.

I did feel quite valued by my colleagues and they would always appreciate anything i did for them or helped them on. They didn't see me as just an intern which was quite nice. My team were easy to talk to and was very friendly. There was always good banter in the office.

I got given quite a bit of freedom by my manager and supervisor which was nice because it allowed me to complete task my own way and in my own pace but before the deadline. In terms of being given support and guidance by my manager and supervisor, they were always there to help me if i needed it. They were both super supportive of me and my development.

At the beginning I was really busy but this was because my manager wanted me to get to know the department i was going to be working in and the process behind what we do. After a few weeks, when I started getting tasks to do it was good and it kept me busy but not to the extent where i was constantly over working myself. There was only a few really rare times where i've not had anything to do or was slightly over worked.

I was given my own responsibility in terms of my own projects and tasks I was working on. My manager and supervisor encouraged me to take ownership of tasks i worked on. There were like were i was relied upon, for example: when planning our Christmas team meal and helping to organise workshops.

As my role wasn't really related to my degree, my placement will not rally assist me in my degree studies. However, i have developed skills that i will be able to take with me and utilise when i get a graduate job. I didn't receive any training what so ever which i think is something that should be given at the start of any placement or job.

The atmosphere was good in my office. Good banter between everyone. Everyone got along and there would always be laughter in the office when the majority of us were in. However, the office did get quiet a lot, which is understandable because everyone was busy working on their own tasks and projects.

Honestly, the internship/ placement was not really well organised. When i started, i didnt have my contract, didnt have a laptop ready for me or my ID card or my log in details, Workwear was also not organised. Took me months to get internet access because I was put under the wrong department code. Only bright side is that my supervisor was always organising everything for me.

My manager did invest into me in terms of when i needed supplies to complete or help any projects or tasks i was working on. In terms of personal training, there was no investment in me. There was talks at the beginning of my placement to go to an excel workshop as my role requires me to use it a lot but that plan just fell through.

Future employment prospects within the organisation does not seem appealing to me. This is just down to the fact that it's just not the industry for me. As much as i've enjoyed the automotive industry, i cant say that i would want to come back into the industry any time soon. Maybe a few years after i graduate, who knows.

There was an okay social scene amongst fellow placement students. Socials every thursday. In terms of social scenes with colleagues, it was very minimal with me and my team with the only social thing we did together was having our christmas team meal. But this was probably due to the fact that the people in my team had families or communted from outside of oxford.

Cost of living and socialising was very expensive. Oxford has the same living costs as london. In my opinion, interns do not get paid enough to be able to live in oxford, especially of you want to be social. Personally, most of my expenses were due to travelling and for groceries.

I personally did not go out in the area i worked in. This is due to the fact that i lived quite far from the city centre so going and coming back was long for me and i started work very early. However, there are a lot of bars and restaurants you can go to have a good time.

I only knew of the intern football sessions they had outside of work hours. There were intern socials near enough every week and also a few activities like paintball. I personally did not take part in any of such activities and always found my own things to do and met up with a few interns after work for food.