Intern Analyst Review

The first half of my placement was fairly enjoyable; I travelled a lot to see the different offices and meet members of my team, and I was involved in a few interesting different projects such as forecasting truck rates and other things. The second half of the placement was less enjoyable mainly due to the fact my boss left.

I did not feel very value by my colleagues as I was not given many responsibilities. All my work tended to be odd jobs, and due to this I didn't develop an area of expertise. My colleagues came to me when they needed some extra help for certain tasks, but I felt like it was always jobs anyone could have done. It would have been better if I had been given an particular area to be in charge of.

My boss in the first 6 months was very busy. He didn't have much time to support me, but he did teach me a lot about relevant software and industry knowledge. I still felt as if most of the other interns got more support from their line managers. Once my boss left halfway through the placement I wasn't properly assigned another line-manager, and got very little support from then on. It felt as if the department was too busy to deal with me at times.

In the first 6 months I was relatively busy with forecasting projects and report writing. None of the work ever had particularly strict time deadlines though, so it all felt quite casual. In the second 6 months I had very little to do other than low priority menial tasks. I left work early quite regularly during this time due to this. It would have been better if the menial tasks weren't quite so dull.

Very little responsibility. As mentioned in previous paragraphs, all my work tended to be odd jobs and the like. I appreciate it was difficult for my colleagues to give me much responsibility as I had zero industry/technical knowledge when I began, and they often seemed as if they had all the relevant jobs of the section covered.

I learnt quite a lot about statistical analysis that was very relevant to certain modules of my mathematics degree. I also developed my microsoft office skills a great deal, which I appreciate is a hugely useful skill in innumerable jobs all over the world. I also learnt how to use some other database software which will likely be transferrable in many data analysis roles.

It was fairly low key. I guess data analysts are likely to be quite introverted, and that showed. Sometimes some of the managers of the section were friendly and forthcoming, but they quite often conversed just within their own small group. It would have been better if us 3 interns were placed together; it made us feel like were almost segregated from the rest of the team.

It was not very well organised. When I arrived I was sent on a tour of the country to see all the different offices that lasted a few weeks. Towards the end of the placement I found out this was because my line manager and other colleagues were too busy to deal with me and had not given any thought of what they could get me to do when I arrived.

The company invested quite a lot of money in my training a personal development. They often got me to travel to see all the different offices to meet other members of the business, and I got to go on a few training courses as well. It all felt quite lazy though, as if they didn't really have much else for me to do.

I was not made particularly aware of future employment prospects by anyone in my team - it was only through the Developing Talent team I found out about grad schemes. I wouldn't want to go back and work in the section I was in as their was a lot of discontent around management and expectation from many staff members.

Yes, many of us were friends and went to the pub on Fridays after work. This was happened more earlier on in the placement though, after a while it fizzled out a bit. I certainly got on with the two interns who worked in my section well, and we often went to one another with our concerns and problems if we needed advice or help.

Pretty expensive for a pint in Hook, Hampshire, where the office was based!

There was "nightlife" in the nearby town of Basingstoke but it was pretty poor. There was always talk of going out in Reading, but we never quite managed it.

I lived at home which was about an hour commute away, so I my activities remained similar. A large group of us interns and grad once went go-karting though, which was enjoyable!