Santander UK Intern - Retail Distribution, Central Divison Review

Enjoyed every minute of it! There wasn't a single bad day throughout my 12 weeks with the company!

My colleagues and managers entrusted me with a lot of important work and really went out of their way to show they were impressed and give praise where due.

Support was there when it was required, but it was not actively handed out. If i needed help or advice i knew exactly who to go to and i was confident they could help. This gave me a good chance to interact with the team because i was asking them for advice and guidance!

I was as busy as i wanted to be. On my first day my managers told me my time was there to organise for myself. This allowed me to get the most out of my placement as i was doing whatever i wanted. There were days where i was given work to do when i was less busy which made sure my balance of tasks was brilliant.

There wasn't a lot of applicable responsibility to give in my role. However when i was given a task to run, i was entirely in charge knowing if i needed it i had the support behind me to ask for.

Really gained a lot of knowledge about the area i did my placement in and will give me some great examples to use for my studies. I was able to apply what i had learnt to a real situation and also gain exposure to how the theory i am learning is implemented in a the real world.

It was brilliant, i wouldnt say the fun never stopped, but it was certainly an enjoyable atmosphere. Everyone bounced off each other and it felt like a really cohesive team. Having said that, it wasnt hard at all to integrate myself within the group, they were amazingly welcoming and involved me in everything they planned inside and outside of the workplace.

There were some minor mix ups with IT at the start of my placement, and some communication errors from HR, however all in all my actual placement was arranged exactly how i wanted it to be. I did what i wanted to get the most out of my time.

On a formal level there was little actual training to do as it was more learn as you go environment. I was supported in my development as i went along and my primary feedback was that i had developed leaps and bounds since i started.

I spent a huge amount of time networking within the organisation and am really driven to develop these connections in order to give myself a future opportunity. Santander is definitely a company i would recommend working for and one which i intend to work for as soon as possible.

I was so busy making the most of my internship that there was little time with other interns, and for one reason or another i was unavailable on the arranged meeting days. I spent a few days with some interns though who were really great and we enjoyed a good social scene briefly.

Leicester is a really down to earth city - great connections, great shopping and eating, the prices are brilliant as well, definitely somewhere to visit.

Leicester has a great nightlife - some really good clubs and bars.

There were loads of clubs and activities to get involved in. Unfortunately due to the nature of my internship, travelling around a lot, there was little time for me to do this.