Charity Partner Summer Intern Review

I did not find it as engaging as I thought it would be. Some days, I would not have much to do. Also, I was not allocated to a department of my preference. I was originally, but the Friday before my first week I was told that this plan "fell through" and I seemed to have been randomly allocated to another department.

My colleagues were very friendly and helpful. They definitely made my experience much better and made me feel valued. They would listen to my concerns and help me address them. I was also always able to contact them if I had any issues and had some insightful discussions with them about other industries.

I was given sufficient support and guidance by my supervisors.

I was not very busy, especially during the first half of my internship. Most of the tasks I was allocated to do could have been completed quite quickly, so I found myself taking my time with them so that I had something to do. There were a few days where I was quite bored.

I was given a good amount of responsibility, as I was trusted to complete weekly reports, to contact companies for requests and to call colleagues across the group on the behalf of my team. I was also given the opportunity to present some research findings for one of my managers.

I did not develop many skills that would assist me in my degree studies and beyond. Although I had the opportunity to practise and polish my learned Excel skills, I did not really learn any new skills in my internship that I couldn't/didn't learn via other opportunities such as university group projects or volunteering.

The atmosphere was quite nice and friendly.

The overall internship was organised very poorly. When I received my initial placement I was unable to make contact with my line manager. I made weekly attempts prior to my start date, trying both phone and email yet I did not receive one reply. The day before I start I receive an email from a completely different person, letting me know that I will be in another building and at a very different department. Furthermore, details on my contract such as my address were incorrect. I made many contact attempts to fix this issue too, but to this day I don't know whether it has been resolved. I have been getting paid, even though I haven't officially signed my contract (as the details were incorrect).

I was invested in quite minimally. The only development opportunity I was given was a research project, which honestly did not develop/teach me any new skills. It is just something that will sound good on my CV. The tasks I completed were quite basic, requiring no training so I did not feel like the firm really invested in me.

After seeing how disorganised the set up of my internship was, as well as after hearing how disorganised it was for other interns, I am not interested in any future employment prospects within this company. I appreciate the opportunity of having completed a paid internship, but it did not develop as many skills as I wished to make the process worth going through again.

There was a good social scene amongst fellow placement students and colleagues. I was invited out for drinks a few times by my colleagues which I really appreciated. Furthermore, having other interns in my team was very helpful as we were able to go out for lunch together/hang out after work.