Corporate Development Program Operations Intern Review

It was a fantastic experience.

The other staff were extremely nice. I was brought out on nights out and meals, and got a card and voucher from the team when I finished up. The atmosphere in the office was excellent, and didn't change irrespective of how things were going. Everybody's opinion was valued and everyone was encouraged to contribute. Having finished up, I miss working there.

It was always clear what I was supposed to be doing, but I was usually given the freedom to go about it in whatever way I thought was based. Everybody always did their best to answer any question I might have.

Like any job, there were some boring day and some stressful ones, but in general the balance was very good. Any time I didn't have scheduled work to be doing, I just took advantage of all of the online learning that was available, or read the in-house economics research, both of which were brilliant resources.

While my immediate supervisor was out, I was more or less responsible for a lot of his projects, although help was always available if I needed it. I was also encouraged to drive my own projects and get things done autonomously.

While some of the training wasn't particularly exciting, much of it was excellent. On the job, I learned a lot about how to get things done in that sort of environment and how to think on my feet. I also learned a lot of practical skill, particularly in programming and advanced excel functionality, which I think will stand to me.

The atmosphere was fantastic. Everybody was really pleasant and accommodating, even when things were really busy. And there was a real sense of camaraderie in that people would buy food and ice-cream for the other members of the team and things like that.

In general the organization was good. Information could have been better at times, particularly before the internship started, but it was never a major issue.

There was a lot of training, both formal and informal, both in the office and at the induction. And the vast majority of it was really excellent. if there's any financial topic you've ever wanted to know more about, the chances are there's an online module on the system for it that you can do. It was a great opportunity in that sense.

They're a really excellent employer. There's a great variety of work and opportunities internally too. They treated me extremely well, far better than friends of mine were treated at other big companies. They even paid for flights and accommodation just to bring me on a night out!

There weren't enough of us for it to be really developed, but we had a good time. I know that in other areas with more interns, this element was a lot better.

It is fairly expensive, but as I was living at home it wasn't a big issue for me. It might be more of an issue if you were paying for accommodation.

If you want night-life, it's definitely there, but I'm not really the party type!

There were a good number of opportunities for sports and social events outside of work, like the office sports teams. There were also clubs of various kinds and a planner was sent out every month with activities that were going on.