HR Diversity and Policy Advisor Review

I enjoyed my internship at Centrica to a large extent. The scheme Centrica does is fantastically organised to help you get real work experience in such a large company. Not only is the scheme for work experience, it's also a full life experience for 10 weeks. I was allocated accommodation at Royal Holloway campus with 30+ interns, which gave me the opportunity to meet other like-minded individuals and make friends that I sincerely believe I will keep in touch with, regardless of our future careers. We were given many other opportunities to participate in fun events with the Centrica graduates, network with people, and organise events and activities for charity. I feel the Graduate Team did a wonderful job in organising activities that made this internship not just about the work but also about the experiences we had as an intern cohort, such as the Development Day and HR Graduate Event. On top of all this, I found that I really enjoyed my work at Centrica as well. Having come into the role without any experience in HR, I admit I was worried that I wouldn’t find my work inspiring or interesting. Needless to say, I couldn't have been more wrong. I was given work in areas that I highly enjoyed and more importantly, I was given the flexibility to try things that I was interested in and customise my time at Centrica. I truly believe that with hard work and an open mind, anybody can find enjoyment in this internship scheme at Centrica!

Before coming to Windsor to begin my internship, I had had no communication with my line manager or other people in my team so I was concerned about going into a very corporate and serious team who did little to value me as not only a colleague, but as a person. However, upon starting my first week and discovering that my line manager was ill, I was quickly taken under the wing of a few people, particularly one of the graduates who happened to be in my team, and really well taken care of in her absence. I quickly discovered that my team was full of wonderful people. I was given some time to meet and get to know each person in my team, including senior managers, and found that they were equally as interested in me. Although I was in a team that had less interaction and collaboration than others, I found that everyone valued and genuinely cared about each other. With regards to work, I was given real responsibility from the start, and made to feel like an integral part of my team in the short amount of time I was with them. They were all wonderful in showing that they were grateful for my help whenever I could lend a helping hand, and I truly feel that I was made a part of the team in a short 10 weeks. I find it is a consistent theme within Centrica that people love working with the others in their team and there is a real feeling of valuing each and every person in the company.

Having been allocated a line manager prior to arriving, I assumed my experience would be quite limited to working in aid of her for the majority of the 10 weeks. However, I’ve had the opportunity to work with many different teams, some not directly related to my line manager’s work, and therefore given support from a whole range of unique individuals. With the chance to meet and get to know my team on a one-to-one basis within the first two weeks, I received wonderful advice from many interesting people who had had successful careers, and fulfilled lives so far. Centrica also emphasised right from the start that there was no such thing as a stupid question, and I really felt comfortable asking for help with anything, and never made to feel unsupported. The Graduate Team also did a great job in supporting me, as well as the 50+ interns on the summer scheme, in all aspects of our internship; from ensuring we had an enjoyable and useful induction day, to developing our Excel skills. Although there were occasionally unforeseen circumstances that often got in the way of structured support such as weekly meetings with my line manager, I have always felt like I received the support I needed, if perhaps not in a very structured manner. All in all, I feel as though Centrica made a real effort to support me and ensure I know that I could seek support whenever and wherever I need it.

I think this depends greatly with the role given and time of the scheme! Throughout the 10 weeks I was never bored with my work; however there were definitely peaks of extremely busy times (especially as the company was going through a strategic change) where other interns and I felt compelled to work longer hours to get through our work. That’s not to say that we did this involuntarily, as we most definitely chose to stay of our own accord, but that we felt the same pressure as the rest of the company in this pressing time. However I would say that this is a positive experience, as we were made to feel like part of the team that was going through a rushed time, and we weren’t neglected during this time and given nothing to do. I found that the amount of work I was given, as well as other activities I wanted to participate in, was higher than in previous work experiences I have had. This is definitely a good thing, as I was made to feel less like extra labour to be used only when needed, and more like a valued member of the team. I think this is mostly due to Centrica’s method of allocating interns, and they have articulated that interns are only recruited for specific roles that have been brought up by line managers themselves, rather than recruiting a pool of interns and then finding work for them. Although I know this is a personal experience, and that some interns found that they had less work than they would have liked, I believe that there were always ways for me to get involved, and speaking up and offering help to colleagues ensures this. Notably, when I wasn’t being directly involved with a project, I found that I could keep busy by improving my knowledge of the company and of the industry, with support from my line manager, of which there is never too much to be done.

I was impressed with the amount of responsibility I was given during my 10 weeks at Centrica. As mentioned before, I knew from the start that only as many interns as were requested by line managers were recruited, and therefore I knew I would be involved in projects where I was needed. This proved to be true as I was given a place in projects, sometimes leading projects or doing them by myself, with specific work given to me. I felt Centrica trusted me from the start to do my best work, and even internal company information was entrusted to me to work with. In combination with the knowledge that I could seek help whenever needed, this responsibility enabled me to get fully involved in the work I had.

This internship at Centrica has given me not only experience, but skills that I believe I could use in the future, both in my studies and career, wherever that may be. We were given formal training in Excel and presentation skills, both of which I enjoyed and believe will be highly useful in the future. We were also given the chance to develop skills such team building and communication for a corporate setting purely by being given the chance to participate in the many different aspects of work at Centrica, from meetings to formal networking events and so on. Given that this internship scheme is only 10 weeks, I believe the training we received was an appropriate amount and will prove to be useful for the rest of my studies and beyond. Having also had the chance to interact with some of the people on the graduate schemes, I know that the training and development of skills is only going to become better should I get on the graduate scheme, with formal qualifications and recognised skills training.

As I sit in the Corporate Centre of Centrica, the atmosphere in my area of the office is formal and corporate. However I found that within teams, people were happy to engage in a more friendly and informal way. Another aspect I found interesting was that atmosphere was not consistent across all offices, or even within the same building! I think this is due to atmosphere being a reflection of the activities within the area. For example, I sit on a floor concerned with Group activities, which entails high level decisions that have major repercussion, and thus, the environment is often very serious and focused. I also sit around the corner from the Executive corner, so the atmosphere is professional and formal. However, I had the chance to visit another office in Stockport, and found that the atmosphere can be very different. The Stockport office is a contact centre so I believe the lively and friendly atmosphere reflects the nature of the work, with people benefitting from the upbeat nature to enable them to do their jobs.

I felt the Summer Placement was very well organised, from the beginning at application stage to the end of the 10 weeks where I am now. I was able to effectively keep in touch with the Grad Team throughout the application process and had a clear idea what to expect after a well-planned Induction Day. I was also assured that all interns would have a structured role and could work with their Line Managers to ensure this. I think across the different experiences of interns, there has been differing degrees of organisation. For example, I had very little idea what I would be doing prior to the Induction Day as my Line Manager never contacted me. But once I began, I set clear objectives and had a multitude of tasks that I could organise myself, with certain deadlines and timescales allocated to each. The organisation the Grad Team did in terms of development was a real highlight and I thought it all went without a hitch.

I was impressed by the company's investment in Summer Placement interns. This did vary depending on different people, location and luck, but I found that everyone was pleasantly surprised by the amount of opportunities we had. We had structured training and development as intern cohorts, and had opportunities within our individual roles for personal development. For example, I was given the opportunity to undergo a formal Myers-Briggs Type Indicator assessment, to better understand my personality type and working style. This wasn't related to my projects at all but was something I had expressed interest in and was therefore given the opportunity to complete. There were also many students who had opportunities to travel to Norway, Poland, wind farms etc. for their personal development and to progress their projects, which I thought was fantastic.

I think most interns would agree when I say that our time this summer has made us keen to join the Graduate Scheme and look for future employment within Centrica. I personally find that my time has given me insight into the Graduate Scheme that I would never have gotten otherwise, and showcased the strengths of the scheme for my career aspirations. I also think Centrica is appealing to me as it is such a powerful company going through an interesting period of change and growth, particularly as the energy industry is becoming such a key player. Having seen the amount of contribution I could make, I think it would be a wonderful place to be in the future.

There was an amazing social scene. It took the interns at Royal Holloway a few weeks to get comfortable with each other but even from the second week, interns would spend time cooking together and organising social activities like mini golf for the weekend. Most of this was done of our own initiative but I think there was a strength in that one of the interns was given responsibility of ensuring everyone was together and engaged on our Induction Day, which continued on past the first week. I genuinely feel that I have made some real friends during my time here, even though I didn't expect to, and found that this was crucial for ensuring my happiness over 10 weeks in such a corporate environment for the first time, and away from my friends and family.

I worked in Windsor, in the main Centrica headquarters, so naturally this area had quite a high cost of living and socialising. However, almost everybody enjoyed cooking and so we turned the kitchen into quite a social area, and saved money on expensive trips to restaurants etc. The office also had a subsidised canteen and free gym, which are both attractive aspects to working in the Windsor office as opposed to other offices.

Although Windsor and Egham area are not the busiest, I felt there was quite a good atmosphere regarding nightlife. I spent some time with my colleagues at a leaving party out in Windsor and found it to be pleasant; and I know that many interns regularly went clubbing on Friday nights! Personally, this isn't a hugely important aspect to me so I found it to be an area that I had no problems with.

There were endless opportunities! From volunteering, to social clubs, to sports clubs, I felt there was a great community of people having lives outside of work. The use of Yammer, a social media outlet similar to Facebook but for work, really helped as I feel people could connect and organise themselves with it. The Summer Placement scheme also encouraged us to get involved with charity and volunteering by organising us into teams and giving us the challenge of fundraising for a charity called Shelter. I found this to be a really enjoyable part of the Summer Placement as I got to meet and get to know interns I hadn't met before and work together on fun projects.