Philanthropy Intern Review

The internship was incredibly worthwhile and gave me great insight into the workings of the company and whether I would be interested in following a career in the sector. Learning more about the corporate social responsibility aspects of the company was also very eye-opening and made me feel like I was making a different during the summer. Each day was full of activities and the colleagues I met were incredibly cooperative and passionate individuals.

I felt very valued by my colleagues and shocked by the level of kindness and cooperation they exhibited. I could not have asked for a better group of workers in the Philanthropy department and everyone worked really well together as a team. The other people I met at Bloomberg were different but also incredibly outward looking and the mix of backgrounds and skills meant there was never a dull encounter.

My mentor Fabia was very helpful and taught me a lot about the workings of the department and what level of professionalism was expected. They told me about the company and how to achieve the goals set out by those higher up the chain of command. Discussions were encouraged and I always felt like an equal.

I feel I could have been given a bit more work but because everyone was so busy all the time, it made it difficult for them to set-out a period of time to actually give me new work and talk me through it. I also feel I should maybe have been more proactive in asking for more work and should have realised early on the workload was manageable.

I was given a lot of experience from organising all the interns to come to a charity event, to tracking the ticket allocations for an art event. It would have been good to be given a project or speech like some of the other interns were asked to do, but obviously the department's ability to launch those kinds of events is limited and so I tried as much as I could in the context given. When a few of the colleagues were away at various times I was given their duties which show the levels of responsibility bestowed.

I think the skills acquired during my time at Bloomberg will help me in the charity sector for sure and even improve my work ethic and organisational skills during my degree period. It is also very important in the modern era to learn office skills in a high pressure context and this summer has done this for me. To learn about the professionalism and high standards expected everyday will give me an understanding going into the real world too.

The general atmosphere in the part of the office I was assigned to was great and everyone was really nice. Also the layout of the office meant I was able to talk to people from all different types of departments are from different levels of the corporation, which was really exciting. I think this system is really good for interns and organisations in general. The office layout and culture was also incredibly fruitful and I think it helped get the best out of employees. People were encouraged to talk and cooperate on a daily basis, while the opportunity to go and talk about things of interest/worry meant a team spirit was harboured.

At the beginning of the internship there were a lot of events and programmes which made me feel very included. The Lunch & Learns were also very informative and the first days introductions made me very excited about the entire summer. I think the trip to the Bank of England was not as good as it could have been and later on in the internship the number of events seemed to lessen. Having said that, the Summer Party was incredible and was really eye-opening in terms of how the Bloomberg culture is perpetuated outside of the office.

I think the fact they I was given 10 weeks paid work over the summer was incredibly kind and generous of Bloomberg and the fact that every colleague helped me each day when they had a lot on their plates means the firm did invest considerably in me. I felt like one of the other workers there, rather than a simple intern and being able to attend events with other employees attenuated that. However, other interns were given weeks of training at the beginning of the scheme and although I was not part of sales/analytic/global data, it meant I was probably invested in slightly less than the most.

I do not know for sure, I think the department is more focused on bringing more interns and giving different people a chance. Having said that, one of the colleagues there was a previous intern and so I guess anything is possible.

There was a good social scene in terms of going to the pub on Fridays and Human Resources organised lots of events for everyone so there were a lot of opportunities to meet and network. There was definitely the idea that if you wanted to socialise with others, you had to make an effort yourself to see them because everyone's lunch breaks and time off work varied. However, there was always a group ready to go out and that was helpful.

The cost of living and socialising was relatively expensive seeing as we were based in London but I live in the city anyway so it was not too bad for me at all. I know people that had to rent flats and I think that took a large chunk out of their salary though. It also depends on where you go out and how savvy you want to be with your expendable income.

The nightlife was standard London bars and clubs.

There was a regular football match and interns were often asked to go to bowling matches throughout the week. Again, many people organised things outside of work within groups and so although formal avenues may have been scarce, people did still manage to go out.