Customer Service Intern Review

I was a Customer Service Intern for 11 months at BSH Home Appliances. I enjoyed working for the company every day. Since day 1 we had separate events only for the interns - Induction days, face-to-face and online training and more, which gave me an opportunity to interact with other interns and to expand my knowledge of the company and gain / improve skills such as organisation, management, etc.; and I was also a part of a lot of company's and departments' events which again helped to get to know the people more and feel more incorporated with the company.

I felt welcomed and valued by my colleagues since day 1. Not only in my department but in the whole company. Everyone was willing to help if I had any questions, or directed me to the right person for help. There was a good balance between work and 'social' life in the office, i.e. there were different events such as mental awareness week, participating in trying new appliances and more throughout the year. It was a great chance to talk to the colleagues outside of 'work projects' and to feel like a part of the team.

During the first week of joining the company, we had multiple Induction days to get to know the company, the rules, our departments and our colleagues. It was not too overwhelming or stressful but mostly exciting. My Line manager always supported and guided me throughout the year by giving me advice, introducing me to different projects and training, and more. I always felt that I could talk to anyone even about the smallest queries and receive the support.

The workload was very different every day. One day I could spend all day at my desk working on spreadsheets, another day there could be several meetings for different projects or Skype calls with colleagues either from the UK or from other countries, and another day it could be a mix. It really depended on the tasks that I had to complete, and there was always a range of small tasks, which would take just a few hours to finish, and much bigger tasks that would be prolonged over several weeks. Overall, I always liked coming into the office in the morning not knowing what to fully expect from the day.

I was given more and more responsibility as the year went on. I felt that my Line manager and my colleagues trusted me more, and I felt more confident in completing much more important tasks after working in the company for a few weeks / months. At some point you become a part of major projects that could be launched in weeks or years, and you feel the responsibility that you carry while working on them.

I have gained a lot of new skills and improved on the skills that I already had. Being a part of such a big company taught me how to communicate face - to - face, by email or Skype; how to organise my projects and my time; how to manage everything (as sometimes I was working on a few projects at the same time), and more. Overall, I am extremely grateful for every opportunity and for every training that I had a chance to participate in which would be helpful for my degree and for my future career.

The general atmosphere in the office was very calm and friendly. The Customer Service department shared an open floor office so everyone would just talk to each other but also consider when someone was working / having a Skype conference call. Although I shared a small office with my Line manager, whenever I would walk by my colleagues they would always say 'hello'. And especially when attending the company's events everyone was always very friendly.

The placement was organised pretty well since Day 1. During our first week, we had a general Induction day getting to know the company, its insights and the rules. Throughout the year, we attended multiple training courses such as Managing Self and Workload, and Presentation skills, as well as we had to complete a lot of online training (mainly Health and Safety related). There were also other events just for the interns, which were a lot of fun to attend!

I think that I have gained a lot of new experiences and skills during my placement. Working on different types of projects taught me a lot how to communicate with internal and external colleagues; how to organise my time and my workload in the right way, and more. It was not just a year of working but also a year of learning, getting to know new people, to challenge myself and gain a lot of new personal and business skills with the help of the company.

The company does provide graduate programmes for the students, who have previously worked for the company, which could then become a permanent job. I would say that BSH offers a lot of great internships in different fields of the business from customer service to legal to finances - pretty much in every department. And to get the support of the company and receive an offer for a graduate position is a very valuable position to be in.

Yes! We had a lot of opportunities to socialise in the office, especially during the first few weeks of starting our placements - to get to know each other better as we were a big team. There were a lot of organised events by the company in and outside of the office, but we would also meet up outside of work ourselves. Living in a student house, provided by the company, was always a great way to meet up in groups and spend some time together.

Some of us were very lucky to live in the student houses provided by the company as the cost was reasonable. I would not say that the area was too expensive but it was not too cheap at the same time. If you do not have a car, you need to use public transport to go to the centre of Milton Keynes. However, there are good grocery stores and some cafes \ restaurants in Wolverton as well.

It was one of the negatives living in Milton Keynes / Old Wolverton as there are not a lot of clubs / bars in the area that are close by. If you wanted to go out, you had to travel to other areas for the Nightlife. However, there is a nice pub near the student houses where you could go with a group of friends either during the week or weekends, and they sometimes have quiz nights.

The main activities that were organised by the company were the Bootcamp classes after work every Monday and Yoga classes after work every Tuesday (all for free). I thought it was a great idea for the colleagues to have a chance to socialise outside of work and to get their mind off of things. During quarantine, we also had an opportunity to participate in the Sunflower challenge - the company sent you the seeds, and whoever grew the biggest sunflowers wins.