Film Production and Project Management Intern Review

I loved it, absolutely loved it, but at times I could have had a little bit more to do, only really towards the end of the placement, though.

My manager was great, as were many of the staff, but I felt that some people weren't really sure who I was/why I was there. I wasn't based in an office of Cancer Research UK, but a university one, so I think it was harder to get myself known, as people didn't have knowledge of the internship scheme.

My manager was brilliant, we met up several times a week, and any problems I had, I knew they would be solved, and I didn't feel worried/embarassed to ask questions or ask for help

At the start of the internship I had loads to do, and continued to have loads to do, however, in the last couple of weeks of the internship, I could have done with slightly more to do, although I was able to go out and visit different parts of the charity, which gave me more to do.

I had a lot of freedom to carry out my project, and visits, etc. However, there was a lot of collaboration with my manager and other groups within the charity. I never felt like my manager was worried that I was just an intern, and asking people to go easy on me, or that I was being given unimportant tasks. I think the balance was really good, I created the basics and organised the project, and the fine tuning of it was done by people more senior than me.

I learned loads about time management, team management, how to present myself and generally got a real feel for working life. Also the CV and intern training days, were really useful, and gave me loads to think about.

People were welcoming, and as there I was based in an office at the university, where there were lots of students people were similar in age to me, which meant we could have a laugh. But an office is an office, and so it was quite quiet and many people spent their time in the labs.

The project was great, as were the opportunities that I got, however, I feel the scheme is set up for people in London, not in regional offices. I wasn't in an office specifically for charity and therefore didn't have a Cancer Research UK computer, which caused problems when I wanted to use the charities colours or fonts in poster and presentations, and when I wanted to use the intranet or email. Also, a lot of the other opportunities available were in London, and virtually impossible for me to get to. Lastly, when I needed to have meetings with fellow interns, the fact that I didn't have an extension number to call, and that I couldn't simply pop down to the central office was a bit frustrating. All in all, the scheme and project were set up great, but the technology caused real problems.

We recieved training about the organisation and its set up and purpose, and also really useful interview and CV training, but nothing other than what you'd expect. I feel that in my reviews with my manager I got a lot of advice and general tips from her, but I don't feel as an organisation they invested a lot, although the training they gave was useful.

It gave me access to internal jobs during my placement, as well as to volunteering opportunities for the rest of my time at university. I think that knowing the charity will be useful for grad scheme applications and such. I think there may have been more opportunities had I already graduated.

There seemed to be, but again, being out of London meant that I was not involved in that, as I was the only person from the scheme in my area. When I went down to London for events it was great, but I didn't go there all that often.

Love it! Newcastle was ace, and had loads of offers and things on. My rent was also really cheap, but I was staying with friends.

Again, it's a student city and there are loads of bars, clubs, cinemas, theatres, restaurants. It depends what you want from a night out, but I loved the city.

There's loads of stuff going on in the area, and because I was based at the university, I got information from the uni about things that were happening. From the organisation I didn't recieve much info about things like this, but from the uni I did, and like in any big city, if you look for things to get involved with, you'll find them.