Warranty Intern Review

The internship was enjoyable as it is a varied role where you can gain a valuable insight into a variety of departments such as finance, sales, manufacturing, technical etc. Also, the additional perks of working at a company such as Rolls-Royce Motor Cars, including tours of the plant, rides in the cars and learning about the history of one of the worlds most luxurious brands.

I definitely felt valued by my colleagues, you are treated as an important member of the team rather than just an intern who can help out. This is especially the case in my team as it is only made up of 6 people, 2 of which are interns so we were given important tasks. Additionally, the relationship with the rest of the interns in the company is strong and is a good way to network.

In the first two weeks I had the support of the intern I was replacing and he was able to show me the key aspects of the role. My manager was helpful in giving me tasks and then showing me how to do the tasks instead of leaving me to figure it out for myself. I was shown a folder which has files with instruction sheets for most regular tasks I had to carry out, this made it easy to complete some complicate tasks without having to be told what to do directly.

I did have several tasks assigned to myself, most of these were monthly tasks which were spread over the course of the month, there were also a few weekly tasks to carry out. Additionally, my manager and colleagues would usually hand me some adhoc smaller tasks to carry out, however if they did not or there was no additional project ongoing there would be times where I did not have enough work to fill the day.

I was given some relatively important responsibilities such as creating slides for meetings from data which I had to analyse and produce clear, presentable information from. However, most work I created would be checked by my manager before being presented, but this was probably beneficial because it gave another person the chance to spot any mistakes or potential improvements to be made.

The skills I gained from the internship were beneficial professional skills, useful for working in an office, communicating with colleagues and improving my IT skills on programs such as Excel as well as learning how to use some more complex programs. Despite this, the internship did not relate very closely to my degree studies and I was not really able to use my knowledge from my studies in the role or use knowledge gained from the role back in my studies.

The atmosphere in the office was relatively quiet and peaceful which was good for being able to work quietly and be productive but it could be a bit dull. However, we were not forced to work in silence and there were times you could talk between colleagues and make jokes.

The internship was set up relatively well with a handover period with the previous interns who were able to welcome the new interns to the company and help us with the new role. Also the internship was set up well with there being scheduled tasks for each intern to do, organised welcome sessions and even the opportunity to shadow in different departments.

The company provided an induction session which was for all new employees to give an overview of the history of the company and instill the culture of the business so we understood what it takes to work at the company. They also provided some training and development courses but these were mostly aimed at permanent employees rather than interns.

The company offers a graduate role in several departments which you can apply for after graduation. Having already experienced an internship at the company the chances of being offered a place on this graduate scheme is increased. Once the graduate scheme has been completed there is a very high likelihood of being offered a managerial role in the company.

There was a good social scene amongst the other interns and this is probably one of the tightest social groups in the company however, because of the location of my particular role, which was based away from the main office, it felt slightly separated from the rest of the interns.

The cost of living in the area is very reasonable for the South of England, rooms can be found for around £100 a week. In terms of socialising, because the company is not based in large city there is not loads of places to socialise. However, in nearby Chichester there are several bars and pubs to go for a drink.

The nightlife in the area is very poor, there are two small clubs in Chichester but they are relatively expensive and not very good compared to clubs in any major city. The nightlife improves slightly during university term time due to students from Chichester University. If you wanted a good night out it would be best to travel to Portsmouth or Brighton, however this would be expensive.

There are a few opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work, during the summer months especially, there are regular social events after work. There is a 5-a-side football group which plays after work on a weekly basis. If you wanted some other activities then there are plenty of gyms in the local area, the sea front is close by for going for runs or walks along the beach.