Centrica Finance Summer Placement Intern Review

I enjoyed the experience as it made me feel like centrica cared about the interns especially with the money that they gave. I also liked hearing about the company and what updates they had for us about what the company was doing going forward. I also enjoyed talking to other possible interns in breakout rooms. I would have liked maybe to have been given more of a clear message from the outset about next year and what our position was within the company but I understand that times change quickly at the moment. I would have also liked if we had been given independent work relating to our field to complete which would give insight into our chosen department more.

I felt like there were lots of nice gestures and the company did a really good job of giving us the perspectives of those who had been on the internship and graduate schemes in the past. I feel like the disjointed/irregular contact between us and the company made me feel a little less valued but I also understand how hard it has been for everyone this year and giving a significant amount of time to potential graduates is very difficult.

I would say that the mental health advice and support was very good. The meeting around mental health was very useful and it made me feel like they really cared about our mental wellbeing. I did also feel that throughout summer, the centrica team were happy for us to contact them if we needed them which was nice.

I would say that the experience over summer did not really help me much in my studies or future job. The meetings were useful in that they highlighted those who worked at centrica who had been in a similar position to us. However, the virtual experience lacked many practical tasks/case study tasks which may have been useful for us to do at home and talk about in the next meeting. I wanted to learn more about the finance division/maybe done some work for them or hypothetical tasks.

I thought the structure was generally good. We knew when the meetings were and what was going to take place with them. It is unfair to expect a totally immersive virtual experience with the current circumstances/unsureness from businesses. However, I would have maybe liked to have had more independent work to be given/tasks to do in the meantime between calls as I felt I was not learning as much as I could about the finance division.

There was a very positive atmosphere throughout in which I really got the feeling that the leaders of the meetings were trying their best and making the best situation they could. I would say that the format of being spoken to constantly could get a bit repetitive. I really enjoyed the break out rooms in the final session and wish that some more conversation could have been created as it often felt more like a lecture than discussion

I felt like they did care about me and want to know more about me and prepare me for maybe working with centrica. I feel like they invested as much as they could with how much the leaders cared/prepared for the meetings which I really appreciated

It let me know a lot about the work-life balance/how people got into those positions in the first place but I wish it had shown me more of the tasks that people undertook and maybe given us the ability to try our hand at some work that those in our division do daily.

The company culture was reinforced a lot throughout the meetings which I liked as it gave me more of an insight into the company and actually made me far more interested in working in centrica long term

It made me sure that I would fit in with a forward-thinking environment like centrica and it made me want to focus on my passions more rather than just wanting a job for the sake of it. It also certified to me that centrica was somewhere I would want to work.

I thought it was extremely kind/generous of centrica to pay its interns for their application and success in gaining a place even though the internship did not take place. Such generosity was unexpected and very appreciated

Networking and communicating with employees was at the forefront of the experience and was very useful

I thought the ice breakers were useful in getting to know people and learning about employee experiences were very useful. I wish the break out room function had been used more though to make it less awkward communicating as I felt nervous in the full environment to sometimes ask questions

It was made clear that a good work-life balance can be struck while working there which was very reassuring to hear

I definitely think it was useful and I also benefited from the experience without a doubt. I think the few problems were also fair enough given how rushed the experience must have been after the internship was cancelled. I definitely think an in person internship is better but, if necessary, virtual experiences like these are also very useful