Project Management Intern Review

It's by no means easy. There were some occasional long hours and a bit of stress every now and then, but you definitely get out what you put in and I've learnt an incredible amount and enjoyed it far more than I would have expected.

I've had an incredible amount of opportunities to add value to the business. It comes with added pressure, but there is definitely a good atmosphere and good level of respect given to interns.

The support structure is what makes this internship stand out for me. The managers are great, but there are also buddies from the graduate scheme to support us, an intern co-ordinator, an alumni (someone who has completed either the internship, graduate scheme or both and is now in a full role) and a graduate scheme co-ordinator all easily accessible for help and advice whenever we need it. Even outside of those, I have found others who's advice I think is worthwhile and turn to on a regular basis. Almost everyone I meet is willing to provide that support and guidance.

To a large extent you make your own destiny here. My manager allowed me to take on work from other areas to expand my skills, but gave advice (which I probably should have listened to) on managing time commitments. I found myself to be very busy (which I like and chose), other interns didn't which for the most part they chose.

I think it's fair to say I have been given all of the responsibility I could handle and then a little bit more just to stretch me.

I would say that my organisational and planning skills have reached heights never seen before. No great technical depth, but this is Business IT, so the skills it developed reflect that. Organsiation, communication, time management, project management. Those skills are things I wouldn't have gained at uni and I will need in any career.

Each site has its own atmosphere. One has a professional atmosphere, one a much more relaxed atmosphere, the other quite a corporate atmosphere. There is definitely fun to be had, though.

Everything is thought through and organised. From the first week of training to prepare you for the internship, the handovers and they have guides for almost any tool I've used. Monthly meetings as a group of interns, monthly 1x1s with the intern co-ordinator, weekly 1x1s with people in the graduate scheme and weekly 1x1s with your manager. Quarterly opporunities to present our work to senior leaders in the company. Leads directly into their leadership program. Very well organised.

They're happy to pay for training courses, I myself have gone on two separate 3 day training courses for change management and an in-house tool. If you need training, you'll get it. If there's training available and you're interested, there's still a good chance you'll get it.

The internship leads directly into the leadership program which is very well respected both inside the company and outside of it. There are other opportunities within the company worth pursuing, but the path to the leadership program is laid out for you and well worth going for.

For me there was less of a need as I'm still living near to my uni. Within the company there are a few opporunities to socialise particularly towards the start of the internship, but then everything died down as friends were made and people did their own thing.

It's London. It's cheap for London as it's on the outskirts, but it's still London pricing to an extent.

It's London, again the outskirts, but a tube ride in and you can do anything. Only downside is the night bus back.

Committees. Each intern chairs a committee (or two) and organsises events. There's a charity committee to organise volunteering events, a professional development committee to organise networking events, onboarding committee to plan how to onboard the next group of interns... the list goes on with about 7 committees to get involved in, plus the opportunity to spend up to 20% of your working time on these means there's lots to get involved in.