Commercial Analyst Summer Placement Review

Due to Covid-19, the bulk of the internship was based around collaborating in a group to deliver a group project on a complex business problem. This involved collaborating with team members from different summer placement streams, namely commercial marketing and business management. In order to complete the group project we had to set up calls with relevant stakeholders, complete research, come up with propositions and inevitably create a report/presentation with our findings. Outside of project work, I attended many talks set up by the grad talent team to increase my understanding of Centrica's business, as well as attending many self-development courses.

I have developed many soft skills and technical skills throughout the placement. As mentioned, the grad talent team set up workshops around being more confident, presenting in business and understanding your value. Outside of these, I attended courses on advanced excel working, python as an analyst, PowerPoint, word, the fundamentals of design thinking and many other technical courses. By attending these courses I have learnt new skills and developed those that I have taken away from University.

Once we had been set our problem statement for our group project and had attended an introduction call with our stakeholders/sponsor, we were given complete autonomy of our project. This involved reaching out to and setting up follow up calls with stakeholders; finding any data or information we required; giving regular updates to our stakeholders and graduate support; responsible for managing the projects and finally meeting the report / presentation deadlines. As well as this, throughout the internship I was responsible for attending any self-development courses that were set up for, reaching out and networking with people in the business and completing/setting placement objectives.

Throughout the internship I received an enormous amount of support and this came in multiple different forms. Firstly, I was allocated a buddy and maintained regular communications with them with any general day-to-day concerns. As well as this, our graduate talent manager provided regular stream catch up calls and 1-to-1 meetings to check up in with our stream. Further, the graduate talent team constantly checked in on us on teams and set up calls throughout the placement to see how we had settled in. Outside of this, I received support from my graduate support team and my project team when it came to technical support and guidance.

The culture and atmosphere is one of the most open and inclusive I have been exposed to up until this point of my career. Every single member of the business that I approached and reached out to was more than happy to take time out their day to provide me with their insights, experiences, thoughts. In addition, Centrica have a plethora of networks and societies to cater and support everybody. Participation and engagement in these societies is encoraged and supported, as well as supporting as an ally.

I thoroughly enjoyed my placement for many reasons. Firstly, I appreciated the opportunity to participate in a complex group problem statement and see how our work has added value to the business. In addition, I have thoroughly enjoyed the opportunities to self-develop and learn more about myself and my way of working. Finally, I have really enjoyed networking and getting to know new people, we had weekly socials set up - which allowed us to get to know summer placements from other streams, as well as year in industry students.

Yes

When applying, the best advice I could give would be to try and understand why you are interested in the energy transition and gain an understanding of the biggest drivers in the energy transition at the moment. As well as this, try to display how committed you are to Centrica's future outlook and what value you can add to the company. More generally, it is also really important to show an understanding and appreciation for Centrica's values.