Employment Advice Services Internship Review

Things I enjoyed about the placement were the interaction with clients from both big and small businesses across all of the UK. I also liked the interaction I had with some different departments across the company. I did enjoy helping to manage the advisor's workloads by ringing their clients back and completing various administration tasks for them. Most people at Peninsula were very friendly and welcoming. Things I did not like about the placement was poor communication from my team leader. My team leader was very hard to read, and often sat at her desk quietly, meaning most of the time it was difficult for me to know how she really felt about me, and this led to me feeling uneasy when she was present. I felt in some review meetings with her she was not being honest about her feelings towards me. It seemed as though you had to be friends with your team leader in this company in order to get proper feedback from them and actually progress. This rather contradicts the company's 'Sunday Times Top 100 Employer' status. In my time at Peninsula, I felt my strong academic achievements were not being fully used. While I had expected to gain rich HR experience to help alongside my degree, I was instead spending a good hour each day scanning post and other documents. So it would have been excellent experience had I wanted to be a post woman, but not for much else!

I felt quite valued by my colleagues. Most of my team were very friendly and supportive apart from a couple of people. Sometimes I felt only any mistakes I made were picked up upon by my colleagues, and good work wasn't really viewed or praised at all. This is poor for a company which relies only upon the efforts of its staff. In this scenario, you should look after your staff much better. I would say 3/4 of staff were respectful of my efforts, while I was talked down to a little by a few advisors, maybe because I was just a Planning Assistant.

My supervisor didn't help me much herself, it was mainly other colleagues in my team that did this. I did have review meetings every few weeks. But these didn't really get to the nitty gritty of how I could develop, they only scratched the surface about tasks I had been doing. I was required to reach certain call targets each day. When I didn't reach these on occasions, it was only touched upon in meetings that I had not reached them, there was no real help from my manager as to how I could take in more calls, and prioritise my workload more effectively.

It varied depending on the day of the week, how many advisors were in/off, and the amount of post we had, but I always had something to do.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility, such as processing the payroll, taking in calls however I sometimes felt like I was given the mundane tasks, such as scanning lots of documents for advisors, and my academic skills weren't being fully used.

I definitely developed my telephone manner in this role, which will help for roles involving this type of communication in the future. I have also developed my IT skills through using the company's particular IT system. I feel my scanning skills have come on which I'm sure will be helpful in some way in the future!

There was a relaxed but professional atmosphere. It is a very modern office and they are mainly young professionals who work in the organisation which creates a fresh, forward-thinking feel. There is good communication within the teams and from team to team on the same floor. Communication could be better with those departments on different floors however. Having the built in kitchens in the middle of the floors did help to create a relaxed atmosphere as you chat to whoever was in the kitchen at the same time as you. The fun events and prizes for hard work created a relaxed feel to the office, however I wonder if all the gimmicks were used because the work itself was hard going.

I was given a very thorough induction and training. It was good that reviews were given, although I felt these could have been more honest. I was mainly trained by my colleagues, one of whom had made a booklet as to tasks my team complete, which was a helpful guide to follow. The tasks I had to complete were quite similar and a little monotonous; I felt I wasn't using my brain cells enough. There was no particular plan set as to things I would be taught and skills I would develop across the placement. I was pretty much thrown into the work, and learned through trial and error.

I was given a thorough full day of induction. I had four weeks of training, which is more than any other job I had had before. In this time I listened in to calls from different teams in the business, which was useful and interesting. I felt like more could have been done to develop my weaknesses, and more assistance could have been provided to help on tasks where I struggled. I sometimes felt I was putting my colleagues out and inconveniencing them when I asked for help.

If you're good friends with your team leader then they will be great, if not then don't expect to go far. You will have to work to the bone to have good employment prospects, put in more hours, and do more than is expected of you.

The company had friday drinks at the end of the month and fun fridays for everyone and any one in the business.

The cost of living was reasonable, good for city centre Manchester compared to other accommodation. I was near to the city centre and Printworks, which includes a cinema, restaurant and bars which is excellent! So where I was located was great for socialising when I wasn't working in this dog- eat- dog organisation.

I didn't have time to go out unfortunately, but I know it was great because it was city centre Manchester!

There was a gym class every Thursday which is a good thing to go to if you weren't too worn out by the day's work and the amount you had been pushed during the day, but more activities could have been offered.