Technology Consulting Intern Review

The placement was a technology consulting internship, but I was placed in a Contracts + Procurement team that didn't seem to include much technology focus at all. The team didn't seem to work well together, and occasionally I felt ignored or unable to ask questions. The work I was given to begin with was not as challenging as I would have liked (reformatting ppt presentations) and didn't feel like it was beneficial to the project. It wasn't until week 4 that it felt like the people I was working with properly understood my skills and gave me some work to do that actually helped to make a difference to the project.

The people in the team I was placed in did not take a lot of interest in me, and did not give me the help or support I needed when I first started - instead, it was up to me to find information on the project by myself, from various documents in a shared Google Drive. Towards the end of the project, there was a lot of discussion over grad scheme offers and ratings on Snapshot, which made me feel uncomfortable and greatly affected the way I interacted with other members of the team.

I was put on a project with my career coach, which made it difficult to approach her with issues about members of the team, as she was part of the team herself. I was unsure who else I could talk to - I only saw my buddy on Fridays when I was in the Leeds office, and even then it was rare that I saw him.

The work varied greatly - some days, I was given lots of tasks to do which kept me busy. As soon as one task was finished, I could move onto the next task. I enjoyed this pace of work. Other days, I had very little to do, and the people on my team were constantly in meetings, meaning there was no one to ask for more work.

It seemed, to begin with, that I was being given a lot of responsibility, but it quickly became clear that the tasks that I was being given were of no significant consequence to the project, and it was just a case of "keeping the intern occupied". In the final week, I was given the opportunity to present, which I enjoyed, but again the presentation was on a topic not relevant to the project I had been working on.

I have found different ways to apply the skills I have gained from my degree and PhD studies - ways that I would not have anticipated prior to the internship. I have enjoyed developing presentation skills and skills on Excel and Power BI.

The PwC team working at Network Rail were very separate from the NR team. Within the PwC team itself, there was not a lot of cohesion or socialising - team members ate at their desks at lunch, did not seem to talk to each other, and kept themselves very separate. Towards the end of the internship, when discussions about offers began, the atmosphere felt very tense, and made the last week very uncomfortable for myself and the other intern on the project.

The information that I learnt on the induction did not seem to apply very well to the project I was put on - this was probably because the project was Contracts and Procurement, and the induction focused on Technology Consulting instead. The fact that offers are made in the last week makes for some uncomfortable conversations whilst the internship is still ongoing - I feel all of these conversations should have been left until the last day, or even the week after the internship had finished.

There were lots of e-learns available, which I used to develop my skills in software that I had not used before. My career coach and the others I were working will did not take the time to find out my strengths or weaknesses in advance, so could not really help me in this area. Instead, it was up to me to ensure I was doing the right things to advance my personal training and development.

In terms of the actual work involved, the job seems enjoyable and something I would like to be involved in in the future. However, the environment in which I was working, and the way in which colleagues collaborated with each other does not make me want to work for the company. I understand, however, that all projects and teams are different, but this is still a major factor which will affect whether or not I accept an offer.

I was put on a project with another intern, and we did a lot of travelling and working together. However, since the induction, I have not had any contact with any other interns on my intake.

I was working away a lot, and the costs were all covered by PwC, which was good. However, we were not informed prior to the internship that we would be travelling, and as I do not have a credit card, this meant that I was having to pay out of my personal account and then wait to be reimbursed - which is not easy for a student!

Colleagues rarely socialised outside of work.

When I was in Milton Keynes, a social event was organised between PwC members, to which 40 people were invited. From these 40 people, only 6 turned up - and 2 of these were interns! I was later informed that this was a "particularly social project team", which makes me wonder just how social other project teams are.