Intern Review

Although the internship was quite difficult at the start and it felt like I would struggle, I grew into the role and by the end, I was really loving it. The work was extremely interesting and there was always support on hand if I needed help with anything. I especially relished the responsibility that was given to me as an intern and the opportunity really helped me to find out more about the company and what areas would be most suited to me.

I felt quite valued by my colleagues because they were all very friendly and made sure that they would go out of their way to help me if I was having any problems. There was a great supportive environment and they really made me feel part of the team by giving me real tasks to do, rather than pointless work. This meant that I was able to learn more about what people do on a daily basis in their actual jobs, rather than just making coffee.

I was provided with lots of support from my manager most of the time, although there were times when I felt a bit lost when I didn’t know how to do something. However, this problem could usually be resolved by just explaining the situation to someone else in the office and then they would go out of their way to try to solve the problem for me. Usually this only occurred because I wasn’t trained to do the specific job so I don’t think the problem would exist in a graduate role.

The amount of work that I had really varied from day to day, which made it difficult to plan my work for the week. Usually whenever I finished a piece of work, I was always given another piece of work so that I always at least had something to be working on. Towards the end of the internship, I was really busy because there were lots of project deadlines to meet, but I never had to stay really late.

I was given much more responsibility than I thought I would be and close to that of a graduate. Clearly, there are many things that I would be unable to do as an intern because I do not have the necessary training, but anything that did not require specific training, I was given a go. The learning curve is quite steep and along with that comes quite a lot of responsibility which I am sure continues when in a graduate role.

The internship was well set up as I was given lots of relevant training before starting work. I was given lots of different projects which needed me to interact with different teams so I got a small taste of every team. Also, the company organised social events for the interns to get to know each other better which was quite fun and we all participated in a volunteering event which was fun to get out of the office.

The company invested in us by offering lots of relevant training at the start of the internship. There was also many optional sessions to boost our knowledge throughout the internship. I think that this training continues when you actually start as a graduate because the company wants to develop and retain its own talent. Also, we had weekly catchups with our managers to discuss feedback and opportunities.

On a personal level, future employment prospects are good because I have accepted a graduate job offer, but not everyone managed to secure a job. In more general terms, the internship has a strong bearing on whether you are given a job and it is really important to impress everybody. Also, in terms of the industry, employment prospects are definitely picking up across firms so it is a really good time to enter the industry.

All of the interns would regularly meet up for lunch and dinner and there was a really good vibe as everyone got on with each other. I also went for dinner with my team which was really good to get to know them outside of work and in a less formal environment. There were also a couple of social events held by the company for the interns to get to know each other which were really fun and obviously paid for by the company.

The cost of living and socialising is quite high in central London, especially if you are not from the area, but I lived at home during the internship which made it considerably cheaper. Although having lived in London for many years, I can tell you that there are cheaper options for food and drink, but I just tend to go for the more expensive options for convenience and I think this is what most other people tend to do as work is very busy.