Cash & Bank Intern Review

I absolutely loved my time as an intern at TWDC, what's not to love? We were given the opportunity to be the first to watch any newly released films in the office theatre ! Disney also held numerous events on every occasion Christmas, halloween etc, there was always something exciting happening in the office ! The whole experience is truly magical. I have learnt so much during my time here at Disney and built such a wide network of wonderful people !

I always looked forward to coming into work and my colleagues were a main part of this. I became extremely close with my team and the group of interns on my floor as well as other managers and colleagues on our floor. It was an extremely loving community and everyone was more than happy to help each other out despite being in separate departments in some cases. Everyone was given the same level respect no matter what their status, enabling even my opinions to be taken into consideration and mutely appreciated at the company.

I had an extremely kind, loving and helpful team. Obviously in my first few weeks, I required more assistance to get me on my feet. However, even throughout the rest of my time on my placement, my supervisor and manager were both extremely helpful when it comes to resolving a query of mine. They were very patient with any questions I had and were very approachable too, making my learning experience very much enjoyable and rewarding.

My team was a critical area of the business operations therefore we were always busy. However, I enjoyed every minute of it ! There is always something to do on the team, and no matter how busy my team are, they always make time to train me in new areas where they may require additional help in completing some extra tasks. You will never be bored on the job ! On top of all this, the team still makes time to get together after work for a drink or outings, which makes it very exciting.

I was treated as an equal within my team, therefore I was trusted with a rather big responsibility and became a key member of the team to ensure the corporate operations ran smoothly. I was given a set of core tasks which I carried out on my day to day work however whenever I had spare capacity or the team needed assistance with other tasks, I was given a few other additional responsibilities. For me, this was very rewarding as it made me feel like a much needed member of the team !

I have gained numerous skills throughout my placement from being competent with SAP and excel to carrying out a wide range of professional work including bank reconciliations, manual payments, customer refunds. Through this, I gained the ability to master various skills including team work, resilience, completing tasks under pressure and working efficiently and still carrying out the work accurately. Everything I learnt at Disney was extremely useful in my time after when applying for Graduate programmes etc especially in interviews.

It was an extremely friendly atmosphere, as I mentioned before the community at Disney provide a very loving and kind atmosphere, making every day in the office an a great time ! Everyone would happily take a few minutes of their time every once in a while to have a little chat with each other and ask about their day whilst getting themselves a cup of tea or coffee ! The office had a very humble and adorable layout with Disney wallpapers across the walls.

I submitted by application around October/November time and I believe the deadline was around end of November. I was then contacted a few weeks after for an interview on the 18th December. I arrived at the head office based in Hammersmith that morning and the interview was fairly relaxed and my manager made sure I was comfortable throughout. The next day, I was then offered to proceed to the next stage of a telephone interview with the Senior Manager. A few hours after the call, I was then offered the job over the phone ! Normally there would be an assessment centre followed by another interview however I did not go through these stages as I believe the team I was assigned to were not applicable.

As an intern at the company, we were invited to trainings that may be useful in all areas of the operations on our floor including tax, basic excel functions, SAP, preparations of journals and many more. They were not compulsory however most interns would take the opportunity to attend these in between their work to make the most out of their experience here at Disney. The trainings were also extremely useful throughout the placement as it taught us various skills which we still use to this day.

As for graduate programmes, Disney currently do not provide any just yet however I believe it would be a great opportunity if they were to implement it in the future. However, it is quite often that interns who later return to university and graduate get offered to come back and work for the company. This saves them from having to retrain new workers and reassures them of the capability of their workers knowing they've been on a placement with the company prior to this.

We were given numerous opportunities in the first few weeks, month even due to different groups of interns having different start times. This included some ice breaker activities, and bingo with prizes to be won each time ! This was a good way for the new interns to build new friendships with not only the interns on their floor but from other floors and departments as well. These events were normally then followed by a screening of a Disney film in their very own theatre at the office!

The cost living was pretty much the standard you would find throughout London. Hammersmith was based in a sort of city centre therefore it may be slightly more expensive if you were to compare to those living outside of London. Transport cost and food were the main of our expenses however, for the amount that we were paid it should be affordable as long as you are smart with your spending. Travel loans are also available whereby they offer a scheme that deducts the season ticket amount in instalments from your pay each month should you wish to sign up for that.

There were quite a wide range of bars available in Hammersmith. There were some that were particularly popular amongst the interns, which you will find them gathering after work on most days. Distillers was the main one for us however there are many other pubs and bars around depending on your preference. As for the clubs, Hammersmith was not too far from central should you wish to go for a night out. Some of the interns held their birthday at Tiger Tiger in Piccadilly which is on the same line as Hammersmith.

Yes, outside of work normally there would be some team outings every few months. My team did a lot of lunch outings together, as well as shuffle boarding, beer pong or even just a hang out in the park. At the end of team meetings, we also normally have a team Disney quiz prepared by the organiser. As for the interns, there is normally nights out planned by some of the interns themselves which are communicated through the Facebook group chat so it would be good to look out for those !