Internship Review at Standard Life

The Role

Role Description

During my summer internship I was given a project, which I, along with my line manager, spent the majority of my time on. I was required to run a mortality improvement model in order to compute expectations of life and liability values for the firm.

In doing this I spent a large portion of my time coding programs in R and Visual Basic (in conjuction with Excel).

In addition I was required to write a large detailed report for review on my findings.

1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

I couldn't fault the internship. I was given a large degree of responsibility (far more than I had anticipated) and felt that I was contributing to the firm in a real and quantifialble manner.

2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Colleagues are very friendly, welcoming and approachable. If you ever had a question or query you need not hesitate to ask. There is an ethos that "no question is stupid" and I believe that the colleagues I worked with supported this idea fully.

3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Feedback was readily provided on performance and whenever I felt that something was beyond my capabilities I would be given assistance in how to complete the task so I had learnt from the experience rather than just being given something that I could do without much trouble.

4. How busy were you on a daily basis?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

Initially (first couple of weeks) I was less busy than I would have liked. This was through no fault of the team I worked with but simply a by-product of the role I was in. I was required to run a number of large macros in Excel which were time consuming - a lot of time was spent waiting for the results to come in from these programs. By the end of the internship I had a very balanced calendar of work as the reporting aspect kicked in and I began prepping a presentation on my time at the company.

5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

In regards to my project, myself and my line manager were left with sole responsibility for it's completion. As my line manager had other tasks to work on at the same time there were numerous days where I was left to work on the task by myself, taking sole responsibility for any tasks required that day.

6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

The skills I have learnt at Standard Life have been invaluable. I have seen how the knowledge learnt at university is put into practice in a business environment which has provided context to all future learning undertaken. In addition, my skills in Excel and R have vastly improved, skills which will assist in my project work in my final year of my degree.

The Organisation

7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?

★★★★★★★★☆☆

Rated 8/10

The office was a professional environment (hence not marked with "fun never stopped!") but within that there was scope to have fun and enjoy your time. There is a clear encouragement to help each other and you can often find staff by others desks helping on something they are finding challenging or providing context to some results obtained. A pleasant place to work!

8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

After the assessment centre and job offer I was kept in continual contact with the firm. A facebook group was set up to encourage all the interns from the different schemes in the office to get to know one another and network before our official start date. A welcome day was run to allow us to network further. Once the internship started we were provided with a line and team manager along with a contact in HR and a buddy graduate from the scheme you were in. All of these individuals were actively available to you in the event you needed assistant. Overall, a very well managed experience.

9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Sessions on training in presentation skills and successful meetings were provided. In addition there were numerous "Academy" events where speakers would provide information on specific topics such as risk management, of which we were encouraged to attend.

10. What were the perks on your work placement?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

• Subsidised Canteen
• Subsidised/Company Gym
• Company Parties/Events
• Staff Sales/Staff Shop
• Healthcare/Dental

11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?

★★★★★★★☆☆☆

Rated 7/10

I would gladly return to work for Standard Life. I have had a fantastic placement and feel that I have made a valid contribution to the team I have been working in. I am unaware of how many graduates the firm will be taking on for intake in 2012 so am unsure on whether I will "make the cut".

Other Information

12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

There were 10 interns in total and we all got on incredibly well. We went out after work regularly and met up at weekends. We also had lunch together almost every day.

13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?

★★★★★★☆☆☆☆

Rated 6/10

Edinburgh is not an overly expensive city, and if you know the right places you can easily go out on a night out and spend well under £20.

14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?

★★★★★★★★★★

Rated 10/10

The Edinburgh Festival was on during the internship so clubs were open until 5am. The town is busy during this time which makes the nightlife great.

15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?

★★★★★★★★★☆

Rated 9/10

Actively invited to attend out of work events. These included charity runs and events with the graduates such as "Harry Potter" nights.

In addition to these questions, is there any extra information you would like to leave about your experiences on your work placement that other students may be interested in?

The interns in my scheme decided it would be worthwhile to contact graduates in other departments to find out what roles they have in their respective teams. We organised numerous informal chats which provided us with a large base of knowledge on many areas of the business. I would strongly encourage this as I found it to be one of the most valuable aspects of my time at SL.

Review 21/26 for Standard Life

Previous Next