Operations Insight Analyst Review

It was a very enjoyable placement. It started off a little slow, but there was lots to get involved in as the placement progressed and I started to feel like a full-time permanent employee.

I felt that those that I worked with all valued me quite highly and I felt like I was welcomed into the organisation as any employee would be, rather than just being 'the intern'. This was reflected during the placement in my performance reviews and the work I was being asked to do.

Support was a bit hit-and-miss. For the first 6 months of my placement I was the only person in the team aside from my manager who was based at a different office. This made ongoing support difficult - particularly during the period where I was transitioning into the role - although he was always available on the phone if I needed to discuss something and he made regular visits to Head Office where I was based. He left the business mid-way through the placement and there was a preiod of unsettledness where I had a couple of interim managers, before moving into my current area of the business (Operations), where the team is all based in one location and the support/guidance network is much improved.

At the beginning of the placement things were very quiet, and I would only be busy a couple of days a week while doing my weekly tasks, with the rest of the time spent browsing the online training materials in lieu of something to do. As I developed into the role I started being involved in a lot more projects and had people approach me directly for ad-hoc work, and I was much busier throughout the week.

Within the first month I was given lead responsibility of a weekly KPI pack, which was one of the key reports for the department and would be seen by numerous directors and escalated up to CEO level, with no changes made to what I'd produced. I also became involved in a number of projects which required a high level of input from myself in order to succeed, and I lead/co-lead a number of smaller projects during the year.

I now have a slightly more practical view of how statistical analysis is carried out in business, which will give me more context to my studies when I return to university. There was not so much pure maths required during my placement though, so other than that it won't really assist in my studies. I did however pick up a lot of extremely useful skills for my future career path. In additionn to 'soft skills' such as stakeholder management I also learnt a lot of technical skills. I've become extremely adept at using Microsoft Excel - in particular programming in VBA and using pivot tables/lookups - and there is plenty more training available in other areas like SQL and OBIE which are useful.

In my first team the atmosphere was quite serious and quiet, and not too lively. Everyone was friendly and approachable though. In my second team (1 floor upstairs) it was a lot more relaxed and friendly, while still being professional. The department really looks after it's staff, which included things such as regularly providing fruit baskets for the office, occasionally bringing in cakes to share out (even ice lollies during a heatwave...). It was a relly nice atmosphere to work in and it helped to make work a bit more enjoyable. There are also Christmas parties and numerous charity/other events throught the year to get involved in.

Generally the internship was well set up, although there was not much ongoing input from the Scheme sponsor (unlike a few other schemes at the same company), The talent team were friendly and approachable and able to provide support throughout the placement. Organisation of the end of the placement seemed to dip a bit, as there was no clear handover from our year to the next and we were mostly left to figure it out ourselves. It also seemed very rushed/last minute when we were being given information about applying (via fasttrack) to the grad schemes for the following year. Some of the grad schemes we didn't find out full information on until a week before the deadline, and one scheme that had been discussed still hadn't been confirmed by that point.

There is loads of training available to undertake during the year. There is an online tool called Ignite and some teams (including the one I'm in) have their own training portal as well. You're able to check out e-books on all sorts of topics (from 'soft' skills to very specialised technical skills) or go on online/class-room based courses. You can also gain accreditation in certain skills like Prince2 Project management, which can be paid by the company for with approval of your manager. Occasionally there will also be team development days, which may involve going off-site to do some training on a particular skill with the rest of your team.

The grad schemes themselves don't appeal to me as there is nothing available for my role, although I would be very keen on coming back to my current team after I graduate if there is a position available.

Yes. There were about 15 other interns plus other grads all based at the head office, with a few others in other offices. We often spent lunchtimes together, and occasionally went for a night out, drinks or a meal somewhere. The area (Basingstoke) where most of us were based isn't the greatest for nightlife, so you have to travel to either Reading or London, and trains back to Basingstoke usually stop running after 1am. There are other activities available like bowling & indoor sky diving, though, and Legoland isn't far away.

Living is quite expensive as Basingstoke is a commuter town about an hour from london, so renting an 'OK' quality room in a house with a landlord or a shared house will set you back about £400/m, which may not include all bills. Socialising is similarly expensive.

Not great! Basingstoke has a few bars and a club, but nothing amazing. The nearest University town with a decent night out is Reading, otherwise London is the best bet. Both of which are accessible via train, although trains stop running in the early hours.

The interns/grads organised a number of different activities over the year, such as go-karting and football. There are also plenty of clubs and groups in the area that you might want to join. There wasn't much provided by the company as far as I was aware/