Energy and Environment Intern Review

What made this internship really special was how friendly and welcoming everyone in the business was. There is a positive and exciting buzz at Unite Students that makes its offices and properties a pleasure to work in. Another great part of the internship was the support given by the learning and development team who helped me to understand a great deal about myself, the way I work and how to manage my workload and aspirations.

My views and opinions were sort on various matters. I was included in meetings and discussions and felt that my contributions were considered and respected by those present. I think it is testament to how much I was welcomed into the team that I miss working at Unite Students very much.

My supervisor, despite being incredibly busy, always put aside time for me without question (often sitting down there and then when I asked for help). He gave me guidance on approaching my main project, put me in contact with anyone in the business that I needed to talk to and talked through future career options with me, giving insight from his experiences. While my supervisor was away on holiday another member of the department acted as a stand-in manager and again, always put aside time to give me guidance or advice when I needed it. When I had questions, and neither of my two department colleagues were around, members of other departments were always more than happy to help.

Although initially the balance was a little towards not being busy enough (while I settled in and got exposure to different parts of the business) things picked up fairly quickly and reached a great balance during the second and third month. This more than made up for the slightly slow start.

I was given responsibility for a project within the department that I had complete ownership of. I was trusted with planning, developing and testing a data collection tool which involved visiting properties around the country and liaising with both internal and external stakeholders. It was exciting to be trusted with a project the output of which was clearly of value to the department. I was however given sufficient assistance, guidance and advice when I required it. I didn't feel out of my depth.

Alongside understanding gained of how a large company such as Unite Students can implement strategies to make itself more sustainable I gained or strengthened many transferable skills. This I am sure will benefit me greatly throughout the rest of my degree and when I apply for jobs in the future. What I found most valuable however was sessions with members of the learning and development department who talked with me about how I manage my workload and aspirations to reach a good work/rest balance. They taught me how to budget my time and energy to achieve my goals without burning out. Having now applied their advice in my first term back at university I can safely say what they taught me will be invaluable.

There is an exciting buzz at Unite Students. There in a sense of progress and change (for the better) in all the offices and properties which makes it a fun place to work. Everyone is always busy working on something (often in groups) but always has time to lend a hand or give advice to each other.

The induction and continuous development sessions (including trips to the london offices and properties) organised by the HR department were very well organised. It was obvious that a lot of thought had been put into facilitating an easy period of settling in so that I could get on with department-specific work without wondering how the business operated. Regarding department-specific work, although it was a little confused initially as my project took form, it quickly came together and I was clear on what I was to achieve and how.

The learning and development team organised a number of sessions for myself and the other interns including sessions on presenting and objectives setting as well as meetings with senior level management (around the country) to gain commercial awareness. We were encouraged to suggest sessions on any skills we wanted to improve which were then organised. When it became clear that I would benefit from more specific one-to-one sessions looking at managing workloads and work/life balance, these were organised. The insights provided by the team about the sort of worker I am and advice on how to manage my aspirations, workload and expectation of myself have proved invaluable in my first term back at Uni.

I would love to work with Unite students in the future. The people are so friendly, the atmosphere so welcoming and the potential for continuous improvement is highly appealing. I am also attracted by the general work ethos which is that everyone is looking to achieve great things for the company and does the best they can.

There were 2 other interns in different departments while I was there. We got on well and all went out for lunch together a couple of times. We're still in touch.

I was living at home while doing the internship so don't have a great concept of how affordable living costs were. In terms of socialising however prices in Bristol's cafes, bars, pubs, clubs etc. are not unusual for a city.

The nightlife in Bristol is good. There is a good range of pubs, bars and clubs. I wouldn't want anything more.

There were departmental social groups like running, cycling and football clubs.