Financial Planning & Analysis Intern - Opex Review

I was employed specifically to support my direct manager and other members of my team. My role focused on budgeting and forecasting costs for Travelport on the agency side. I compared budgeted and actual costs and explained the variance and determined whether these were favourable or adverse. I would also undertake the updating of many reports showing the operational costs and would forward these out to my team for them to analyse and then I’d forward on these summaries to department heads. My role also included various ad hoc projects. A lot of the analysis I did required talking to other stakeholders to understand the key drivers behind any costs or credits that stood out. Although I didn’t have direct contact with the customers of Travelport, we had a lot of contact with the wider Finance team and other department heads.

Reflecting on my personal goals I set for myself at the start of the year, I was pleased to see that I had achieved all of them. I gained independence by becoming more proficient in the software I learnt, oracle and cognos, and in the month end tasks I had to complete hence making the role my own. What I was most proud of was my increase in confidence. Now, I have spoken in front of the whole company, the CEO and all the other senior leadership teams included, on multiple occasions.

With practice and the help of my coworkers I was able to go about my month end tasks and daily role with ease. I didn’t feel like an intern, but like an actual member of the team and an employee of Travelport whose work was an important contribution. My reports were used by my team and then sent out to other departments too. So the work I did mattered. There were times in the year when I didn't have much work to do and so would just focus on other intern activities

We received a mentor; someone who worked in a role separate to your own to expand your exposure to the company. My mentor was great, we met weekly, spoke about my week and also personal things too. She advised me on any upcoming projects and I found having a mentor to be very helpful. I know however that some mentors for other interns weren't as good, some saw their mentors only a couple times throughout the placement or not at all

Travelport has a relaxed friendly atmosphere. The dress code is casual, with people wearing simple jeans and tshirts. There are many extra things to do such as ping pong, board games etc. They also have company wide competitions such as a ping pong tournament. Its a nice place to be as when you feel stressed, there are multiple outlets for you to calm down with. Everyone is really nice and they are especially nice to the interns. I would have liked to see more diversity. They did have some diversity initiatives however seeing only a handful of BAME interns in my cohort can be very disheartening.

I enjoyed it. The extra things: internpreneruship and CSR made the intern experience. Internpreneurship is a play on the word ‘entrepreneurship’ and is an internal scheme that encourages the interns to utilise their entrepreneurial skills to partake in certain projects. CSR stands for corporate social responsibility. It is an employee’s responsibility to give back to the community through donations, fundraising and volunteering and it is encouraged by the company. These were so fun as there was a competition element to them too and it was a great way for us to utilise our skills in a creative way. The job itself did sometimes become tedious as some of my tasks were quite long and repetitive.

Yes

Talk to new people, everyone is nice Always say yes to new opportunities In the interviews they want to know who you are, and if you'll fit into the team on top of if you'll fit the role. Use your past experience as evidence of skills that you think will show this. Also in assessment centres, they judge how well you listen and involve others on top of your own contributions. When answering questions in the interview, expand on your answer, its your opportunity to sell yourself, talk about what you've done and what skills you've used to show you'd be a good fit for the role.