Business Intelligence Intern (Data and Analytics) Review

As a Business Intelligence intern, I really enjoyed my line of work. I always found the work that I was given engaging and valuable. Overall, it was an extremely valuable experience and I felt like the internship scheme was taken seriously, and as interns got given meaningful tasks that had a real impact on Travelport.

I think that the culture at Travelport was a very relaxed and a caring one, therefore I felt quite valued by my colleagues. I knew I could always rely on them if I had any issues in the workplace or at home. The relaxed culture meant it was easy to have nice conversations and a bit of fun

Firstly, the previous years interns handed off our roles and taught us more about Travelport. This support was really good as it meant we could constantly ask questions and weren't left to find out things by ourselves. Secondly, throughout the entirety of my placement I was always given the opportunity to attempt a task first, and then helped out, which to me was really valuable. Both my colleagues and managers were always willing to help out so this made the placement experience much more enjoyable

Levels of work varied throughout the year, with some times being too little work and some times having a good balance. However, I never found myself being "too busy" with work. I do think there can be improvements in the balance of work, as some days I felt like I had very little to do and could've used my time more efficiently elsewhere.

I think I was given a good level of responsibility during my placement. As the year progressed I was given more and more ownership of different tasks we had been working on, which allowed a gradual increase of responsibility instead of being given too much at once and not being able to manage it.

I believe that the most valuable skill that my year at Travelport has taught me is time management. This may seem like a simple skill however I feel like is one that they do not teach at university and you can only gain at a placement. By managing time you are pretty much able to benefit immensely in productivity at work and in your personal life. I also developed many other skills such as communication, learnt new systems, presentation skills, working under pressure commercial awareness to list a few. I truly believe these will be very important as I progress into my final year at university as I will have to manage time effectively in order to write my dissertation, prepare for exams and apply for graduate roles.

At Travelport, there was a very relaxed atmosphere, where you feel comfortable to take responsibility for your own tasks and do them where you want. It was common to go work in different parts of the office to keep motivated and give you a change of scenery. Additionally, everyone was really friendly and you never felt like you had to speak quietly or not be able to have a coffee catch up with a friend or colleague.

The organisation of the placement scheme was probably one of the top things Travelport excelled in. In the first few weeks, we were clearly guided on how the internship works, given chances to raise concerns and even monthly meetings to check up on how we were finding the placement as a cohort. Furthermore, questions were always clarified and we also had the opportunity to give our own input into how things should work, which was awesome. Overall, a really positive experience in how everything worked.

I don't think there was an extensive investment in me throughout the year in terms of personal training. However, I got taught everything I needed for my role so I don't see the issue. One thing I would change would be perhaps at the start of the placement, there should be more guidance in what applications your role would use and perhaps a group workshop into learning the basics of that program, and a few months later a more advanced one.

There are future employment prospects at Travelport. For example, previous interns are sometimes given the opportunity to work part time during their final year of studies as well as being offered a job after graduation. From my experience, there seems to be a careful process to save these offers for the interns that go above and beyond and excel at their roles.

I would say that there was a good social scene amongst our cohort of 25+ interns. We were all in a group chat where people could plan social activities such as night outs, pubs etc. I feel like people were mostly included and everyone respected those that did not want to participate.

I was fortunate enough to live at home so the cost of living wasn't too much of an issue for me personally as I saved on rent. However, I do know that nightclubs, pubs etc tend to be more expensive than other places around the UK, so that is definitely a factor to consider

The nightlife around the area is not the best if you are considering outside of London. However, with an 15 minute train to London you could always make the journey to enjoy a proper night out that was always good fun. If you do decide to go out on week day you can soldier the hangover headache with your placement mates in the morning!

The Travelport Social club was a great way to get involved in more activities outside of work if that is your thing. With a cheap membership you get loads of discounts to fun events throughout the year. I enjoyed playing weekly football on Tuesdays with Travelport employees, a good way to keep active and good fun to watch people you'd never imagine on the pitch!