Summer Intern Review

Overall the placement was enjoyable. As interns we were given various extra work outside of our job specifications including the opportunity to raise money for Mental Health UK. As a result this gave us a variety of activities to complete on a day to day basis. Despite this, there were occasions when I did not have much work to do and the skills I intended to develop could not be enhanced due to this lack of work.

On a personal level I felt extremely valued by my colleagues. Everyone was keen to help me settle in to the business and provided lots of support. All colleagues I interacted with were happy to offer advice and wisdom throughout. On the other hand I feel as though some of my skills were not utilised by the work I was given.

My manager was incredibly supportive in elements both inside and outside of work and encouraged me to pursue my own interests in other business areas within LBG. On the other hand there were times where my manager could've provided me with more work to develop the skills I had highlighted.

When work was allocated to me I was busy, however once that work had been completed it took a while to be given a new project. Most of the time I was having to keep myself busy and generate my own work. Fortunately my buddy was supportive and helped find me work.

I was given little responsibility throughout the programme. The work that I was asked to do felt meaningless and repetitive. I felt as though the skill set I had was not utilised and I could've added greater value to the business by being given extra responsibility and more difficult tasks.

I did not develop any hard skills or go through any formal training whilst on this placement. Despite this my soft skills developed massively. This was primarily due to the Helping Britain Prosper Challenge which allowed me to develop my communication, organisational and leadership skills which will be useful in my degree and my future career.

The overall atmosphere in the office was great. All colleagues were extremely supportive and there was never any pressure to do over time. Several team nights out were arranged and this helped with my transition into the team. The office was very laid back, in a good way, which gave me confidence to work on my own tasks.

The organisation of the internship wasn't that great. Several interns did not receive computer access until 3/4 weeks into the programme. In addition to this there was no formal training / outline of what the scheme would involve. Clarity on this would've made the whole process smoother. This was an issue amongst many interns.

I never undertook any personal training. Other interns were given the opportunity to attend courses in London. The investment in interns very much depends on the business area and whether the line manager is keen to put the intern forward for training. Consistency between investment in each individual rather than at the line managers discretion would be useful.

After the end of the programme, interns (if referred by their line manager) are able to attend an assessment centre for a graduate scheme of their choice. This is beneficial as it allows interns to transfer to a different scheme from the one the internship was in. The pay for some schemes is competitive and the option for a referral is there.

The social aspect with colleagues was great. Several team nights out were organised which allowed us to socialise and get to know one another. Furthermore, interns were housed in the same student accommodation. As such we were able to socialise after work and go out and explore the local area.

The cost of living was more expected than anticipated. The price of drinks were on a par with London. This would have been less of an issue if we were paid an additional amount like interns in London. Otherwise socialising wasn't too expensive. The cinema and other activities were relatively cheap.

The nightlife was pretty poor. There were a variety of nightclubs to go to however as there were few students in the city over the summer the clubs were pretty empty. There were quite a few pubs to go to so this compensated for that to some extent. As mentioned before, the price of drinks could sometimes be on a par with London prices.

There wasn't a lot to do outside of work, however I'm sure there were more things to do if you looked hard enough.