Campaigns and Research Funding Intern Review

I really enjoyed my time at CR-UK. This was especially manifested in the fact there were so many other interns to get to know who were in a wide variety of departments and from a great range of backgrounds. We went to lunch every day and there was a real comradery between us. I'm sure we'll keep in touch. From a day to day work perspective, I did find myself challenged at first by what the internship entailed. My placement was in Major Giving and Appeals research ream whose job is to find (rather wealthy) people who may consider donating to one of the campaigns they have at the moment. I spent most of the time on google exploring different companies and other charities to find good prospects as well as creating profiles on people the canvassers were to go out and meet. Although challenging at times I feel like I have gained a great deal of new and transferable skills to enhance my CV in the future. The one thing I would say though is I did find the actual work slightly dry at times, especially as we got to the end. But it was interesting and exciting at times- enough to make it worthwhile

I definitely felt greatly valued by those especially in my immediate team and by my manager. I was always thanked for my work and they were keen to give praise when they felt it was due. I was often given extra work to do if they felt that it would be useful to me to enhance my skills and this also translated into the wider department, especially with Managers on the canvasser side that I had direct involvement with. Amongst my immediate team and canvassers I spoke to regularly it didn't feel like I was 'just the intern'. However, I don't know if this was just due to the size of the team but there were a couple of people in the department who I did get the impression from that they didn't see interns as being a proper part of the team. However I suspect this is because it is a very large department and they didn't work directly with interns at all so didn't know the value of their work.

I had two Managers, one for the Create the Change work and one for More Tomorrows (two of CR-UK's flagship campaigns). I had weekly one to one meetings with both of them and they were really supportive and encouraged my personal development throughout, setting targets at the beginning then monitoring them throughout (1-1s are the Internship programme wide). Also as I was getting different workloads off each of them they were understanding and supportive when work was getting a bit too much to balance it out. I always felt they were really grateful to me throughout my time at Cancer Research and I'm lucky to have had them as managers. They were always calm and understanding and never expected me to do anything they wouldn't do themselves- I didn't get given any jobs stereotypically assigned to interns. They also encouraged me to set my own deadlines or gave me really open ended ones which meant I had to assess the importance of work for myself whilst still getting it all done on time; this was a really useful skill and I'm really pleased they used this technique as it helped me be able to manage my time myself more effectively. My Managers were also great at encouraging me to come to team meetings and lunches within the larger department and took me to their 'Challenge sessions' with their Manager which allowed me to present my findings myself and take responsibility. This also helped a great deal in me becoming better at my role. I know the other girl I was interning with felt she didn't go to that many meetings with the wider Department/ Canvassers/ Team and so felt a bit left to the sidelines, so if you were to apply and be successful for this role I definitely recommend you ask to attend.

Because Major Giving is such a big and lively department where something is always happening and canvassers always need something along with targets set for the whole team which is relatively small there were times that I was really busy and had a lot to do in a week. But on the whole because my work was mainly focused around specific mini-projects with a time line built by my Managers before I arrived I never had nothing to do or was really bored. And if I didn't have loads of work to do I was given the freedom to create my own mini projects and get involved with all of the great stuff the other interns were doing such as a royal baby name Sweepstake and organising an Alice and Wonderland themed fundraiser as well as other social occasions.

I was given a reasonable amount of responsibility and autonomy, more than I expected, although all my written work was double checked by my Managers before I was able to sent it off. Although this was a great help for my skills anyway. I was also able to take the lead on things given to me by other people in the team. For example, I wrote a profile to be given to one of the Directors of Create the Change and then became sort of the de facto contact in the research team for that canvasser about that particular prospect which was nice. I definitely felt a part of the team and that I was doing work that my Managers were doing.

I have definitely learnt a lot at CR-UK. Before joining I had previously worked in a really small office (there were only four of us) so it was great to discover what a large organisation is like- and it really is huge. I believe over 1000 people work in the Angel offices and there were over 30 in my team so working in a large office environment was useful in itself. I also feel my written and research skills have increased a lot which will help me with my degree a lot as well as, I'm hoping, my wider career. Although perhaps not prospect finding I would like to go into a job that has a research function and so creating biographies, being succinct, correct and getting all the information in there is a really useful skill to have. I also took on a data analysis project for one of the Canvassers on a staff survey while I was there so I learnt how to use pivot tables! My excel skills have improved and I think just the ability to work well in an office will be good for me when I get out of University (I have another two years to go). Also, if you are interested in recruitment or HR I've realised that prospect finding is a great skill to have there too. - I have effectively been head hunting very influential and wealthy people all summer that the canvassers have gone on to contact.

The department as a whole was really friendly and always quite lively, I think this is because they were often in contact with really interesting and high flying people from all over the world and it was good to be a part of this. CR-UK's offices are a really friendly place to work, especially because they are really open plan. There are always celebrations going on (with cake) for people leaving/ joining/ leaving for maternity. I think that comes from it being a Charity.

The internship was impeccably set up and run. We had 2 induction days that were a great insight into the charity as a whole before joining. Once we joined there was a email list set up for interns so it was easy to contact each other and we were encouraged to set ourselves targets and discuss these in weekly 1-1s. There was a six week and end of placement review too and everyone is encouraged to give their feedback too. On the final day we had a goodbye event too where yearbooks created by interns were given out. Our Managers seemed to be given a lot of support and training too and CR-UK appears to invest a lot in making sure the programme is as professional as possible. However, one thing that was difficult for me personally was the £55 limit on travel expenses. I had to cover a £45 extra cost on top of that for my rail fares alone and I don't think they will change this limit any time soon. (I think I need to recognise here CR-UK is a charity). Although I am fortunate that my parents are able to support me, a lot of people's can't meaning people can't take up the internship. I believe they are changing it to 4 day weeks now so that people can work part time or study around it but I can't see how this will greatly help if travel costs on the whole are not being met.

We were given CV and Interview training days which included a 1-1 with a HR person which was useful. My Managers also made sure they gave me training before starting work as well as having full inductions to the rest of the team's roles which was interesting. As I said before we were encouraged to set targets and set them out in a way useful for our CVs. I'm not really sure they could've done much more.

I will definitely be looking in to future employment opportunities at CR-UK in the future after University. There were a reasonable amount of jobs that came up whilst I was there and a few that were sent round to the interns specifically to generate interest. I've heard that a reasonable amount got jobs at the end of their internships the group before mine, but it's up to you to apply. I think having the internship does help your application a lot though, they like to keep people within CR-UK.

There was a great social scene amongst interns, we went to drinks at least once a week and ate together (most often on the roof! - go find!) every day. There was always someone around or if not they were only an email away!

It's London, so can't really expect anything but quite expensive. Although some places were reasonable and CR-UK staff get discounts at various places around.

Islington is such a great place to go out/ go to the pub in, and Shoreditch is nearby too. CR-UK staff get free entry to Propaganda on Friday nights at the o2 which was good fun.

There were so many things interns got involved with I lost count, from volunteering at sporting events cheering on spectators to attending high end events with celebrities from the Lawrence Dallaglio Foundation and Emeralds and Ivy, their flagship ball which takes place in December. We also created our own event and raised over £3500 for the charity whilst there. It was really good fun and one of the highlights for me.