Sales and Marketing Summer Intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship. The internship/ graduate team really consider past experience/ academic background when placing you in the various business units available. The work was generally very varied and you were given task of actual importance to the company.

I felt highly valued by nearly all of my colleagues. They gave me task which they thought would best help my personal development and help get the most from my internship. I was assigned very little admin roles by my superiors and was treated like a senior full time employee. They spoke to me with respect and I did not ever feel patronized.

I was given lots of support and guidance. I had a direct line manager who I met with weekly to ensure I was on track with all my projects. She also helped fulfill any development needs I wanted to work on. In addition, I was assigned a "buddy" who was a graduate on the Commercial Management Trainee (CMT) scheme. He was able to offer more informal advice and help answer questions I might not want to put to management.

Generally, I was very busy. The work was a little bit slow in the first two weeks. However after that I had a lot of work to get through. On a couple of occasions I felt like my capacity was breached, but never too bad. In general the work balance was good.

I was given lots of responsibility. I was the project lead on both of the projects I worked on. I was not over watched and was left to get on with projects myself. However, guidance was given when needed. I was allowed to set up meetings with whoever I wanted as long as it had relevance to my projects/ placements.

I attended many development courses whilst I was at GSK which will help in my degree studies and future career. These included insight, presentation and planning courses. I also believe the skills I picked up from my everyday projects will prove very useful. in the future.

There was a very relaxed atmosphere in the office. There was a hot desking system and none of the senior management had separate offices. Everybody therefore felt very approachable, no matter what their job title. Employees have flexible working times and everybody seems to have a good work life balance.

It was very well run. There was an overall intern manager, who oversaw all of the interns. He ensured that the twelve weeks included as much as they physically could, in term of development and opportunities. He also facilitated regular catch ups with all of the interns to ensure everyone was happy.

The company financially invested a lot into training and development. We attended insight and presentation courses which some full time employees weren't even entitled to. Many of these courses cost GSK hundreds of pounds. It is clear the firm invests in the interns because they want them to return and join the graduate schemes after university.

All interns have a chance of getting fast tracked onto the graduate schemes.

Other interns/ grads regularly organize nights out in London. Could be more social events though.

I had to drive to work which meant petrol costs were quite high, probably still cheaper than train tickets however. The canteen was reasonable priced and you could get a good meal and a drink for under 5 pounds. The internship was paid. This covered expenses and left some money to spend as well!

Pretty good nightlife. Grads/interns organised nights out in London quite a lot. The office was based in Stockley Park (West London) which did make it hard to get to Central London. Nightlife would have been better if based in the City.

Not really. The only opportunity was for nights out. There was no other form of official social events.