On Air Intern Review

Your week is split into two segments, some days will be spent with Continuity and Navigation, and the rest will be spent with Presentation. Emails are checked and then you just crack on with your work. There is a weekly rota of who needs to be doing what, so usually you know what to do pretty easily.

You get an incredibly thorough training of any media proprietary software. If you are inexperienced in Microsoft Excel, then you will get pretty good at that too. There are limited opportunities for presentations, but they definitely exist. The main skill you will gain is time discipline and multitasking. Don't expect to learn everything all at once though as there is a lot to learn and there is not always time to teach you everything. You may feel you are thrown into the deep end very suddenly, so suit yourself up for some tricky times before you get used to it all. You have a month training period before you begin fully. After the training month you are expected to have a work output on par with a full-time employee, so if you are looking for a job that will make you work hard, this is it.

You are given a lot of responsibility. The two roles available were originally full time paying roles before they were changed to become student placement roles. Therefore, you are expected to work as much as a full time employee. This means you are very responsible for your own work. Whilst everybody understands you are an intern, you have to take care of your own work. You must be accountable for any mistakes that are made. Sometimes it can feel like you have too much responsibility given your role.

You have two line managers that you form close relationships with. These two figures will be the most important to you as they will provide lots of assistance.

The company prides itself on being inclusive and diverse. The office is busy but friendly and people from other departments like to mingle with others, so it feels like one big family. However, when I worked here, our department was undergoing a lot of reshuffling, with many people coming and going. As a result, we had to work very hard and had no time to socialise with the other departments in the same way they would. In this department, you are expected to work incredibly hard. The same standards are kept for interns as they are for employees. Work hard and smart, and you are off the hook - simple as.

Pros: You have a paid placement in London - this is important as many people may not have this opportunity. You are treated like a full time employee - you are not treated poorly simply because you are an intern. You are responsible for your own work - you learn what accountability means. You learn how to become adaptable. There are social events somewhat frequently in the office - I enjoyed joining in as they were always free. When you live in a city like London, free things are appreciated. You work from home 3 days of the week - I cannot stress how great this is. This is REAL work experience, not some rubbish intern thing where you are forced to do the jobs nobody wants to do. Cons: It is REAL work experience - you are going to work way after finishing time with no recognition or pay, you are going to have days of gruelling work, you are going to feel exhausted and burnt out, you are going to have bad days at work and have people upset at you. These are all part and parcel with working ANYWHERE - but this is something to keep in mind. There is a real disconnect between the rank and file and management. The team was experiencing lots of turnover, it was hard to form good friendships. It also meant you had to take a lot of the burden of work because new employees would come in and also need training. You clock in, work, then clock out. The nature of the work means you work hard then as soon as you can you are desperate to leave for home. I would recommend this placement. It changed my life for the better. Even through I had some really tough times, it shaped me to become a better person. After you do this placement, you will be prepared like no other student will be. You are fed to the dogs in your opening months and you might question why you did this, but after the dust settles you will realise how important this baptism of fire was.

Yes

Have an open mind and be mentally prepared for lots of work. This is no easy internship and you must understand that this is a real company with real aims and expectations. Make it clear to interviewers that you are willing to work hard - hard work trumps all other things. Relevant experience and other skills are nice, but hard work is the most important. Knowing when to get your head down and work your backside off is the most important trait to exhibit and will please interviewers.