Marketing and Communication Intern Review

I have loved every minute that I have spent at Lockheed Martin, the opportunities and experiences that were made available to me have been invaluable and have really allowed me to grow as an individual. The role has given me an opportunity to explore the different sides of both communications and marketing and has assured me that this is the career path that I want to follow.

My immediate team have been like a family to myself and have really given me the confidence and support to grow as an individual, they are always on hand to help me should I need any support but at the same time they have never once treated me like an intern.

I could not have asked for more from my manager, we had regular meetings to discuss my progress and she always was receptive to my thoughts and opinions. If there was a particular area I wanted to focus on, she would always accommodate as best she could, I don't think I would have enjoyed my experience as much without having such an amazing leader.

At times my workload was a little overwhelming which I felt meant I was not producing my best output as I was occasionally rushing things, however I would always rather be too busy than bored. I feel I was giving excess workload as I was trusted by team that I could deliver, which was an great confidence builder.

I was effectively let to manage all the internal communications activities on site, maintaining the intranet, organising and running events as well as being the point of contact for numerous stakeholders around the business. I was also a co-coordinator for the companies corporate social responsibility activities which allowed me to project manage - as part of a team - over 70 events!

I think the 'soft skills' I have developed over the last year have been as invaluable as the more tangible skills I have picked up. How to carry myself in a professional environment and what is expected of you is something that I will take away both in my studies and beyond.

The office I was situated nearly always struck the perfect balance between work and play, it was a super relaxed and chill office where everyone could have a laugh, but everyone still had a great work ethic and understood when it was suitable to get their head down with some work.

The process between starting was a bit confusing, possibly down to the security process required beforehand. I did not really know what to expect on my first day and they did not put you in contact with other interns beforehand which I know most companies do. Overall it was quite poor.

To an extent there was not really any training made available. Most of the development came from learning from my team and other stakeholders around the business, which to a degree was probably more valuable. Upon reflection I would have been beneficial if I had to opportunity to participate in some training courses throughout my year.

Unfortunately there are no current graduate positions in my job role, which is a shame as I would love to return. There is the slim possibility of returning as a regular employee but this would be without the benefits of being on a graduate development program (and often requires experience).

There is a large early careers cohort on site which organise regular socials, in terms of social clubs or sports teams there are a few but they are not that prevalent. They take on so many early careers (interns, grads, apprentices) there is a lot of young people on site so there is a lot of social interaction.

The rent prices in areas can be quite modest depending where you are looking, the small villages closer to work are very expensive and also the pubs and bars with that. Overall in Bedford the prices for going out are what you would expect in any small town and are pretty average.

So Bedford is not the greatest town when it comes to nightlife, there are some nice country pubs close to work but that is about it. It has good transport links to London which help a bit but it is quite difficult moving from a city to a small town like Bedford.

Not really, there was a few volunteering activities and also a few activities with the companies outreach team, but other than that there was little that went on outside of work hours.