Business Analyst- Summer Intern Review

I spent 8 weeks at Accenture, I enjoyed my time there but to be honest I did not learn as much as I expected. I was sent to Newcastle for a project Tues-Thurs and worked from home on Fridays. However due to the lack of organisation by Accenture, I was unable to get a client laptop during my placement so I ended up doing little consulting work and instead my manager struggled to find me something useful to do.

The analysts on the project I was assigned to were extremely helpful and were really friendly to me throughout the internship. They answered any questions I had regarding the company and the project and gave their honest opinion on the culture of Accenture. I was also assigned a buddy who was with me the entire time of the internship.

My manager didn't interact with me much at all, it was mainly my buddy who was an analyst that reviewed my work. But once again I was not given any consulting related work so it was very difficult for any substantial feedback to be given to me. I only did very basic tasks so there was little need for support and guidance by managers.

I was usually very bored at my internship as I did not have a client laptop. I have reflected this to my manager but there was nothing we could do because it was up to the client to process my security clearance which could take up to one month so I was never cleared even though I spent two months there. However, I do know that some other interns were a lot busier than myself, it completely depends on the project you are assigned to.

Work schedules were varied, but I was busy for the majority of the day. There was always something that needed to be done, as we were working towards a deadline, but sometime you would have to ask for more work when needed.

Similarly to the above, there is a natural limit to the amount of responsibility you can have when being unqualified. However, I was probably given the right balance between real work which was required by my superiors, and the safety net of knowing it was likely that someone would be able to check it fairly quickly for any glaring errors.

People took their work relatively seriously and most had lunch at their desk at the client site. Because most people are based in london, travelling up to newcastle would take away 3 hours of working time so most people were very hard working at the office and tried to work on the train as well. People were friendly to others, managers were approachable and engaging during meetings, it was a nice place to work at.

The placement was fairly well organised although I found out my location very very late giving me just 6 days to find a house in London as I was doing my exams when I found out so couldn't come to house-hunt.

Accenture has invested a lot in my personal training, I have had numerous option of courses to go on and take every opportunity I can. I am included in training, clan days and team days as if I were a long term employee in the business.

The internship is a direct route to the graduate scheme - something that was vital for me. You have 10 weeks working on a project and you must deliver/present it to a Director and a couple of managers. After your 10 minutes is up, you'll have an interview where they assess whether you are a right fit for the company or not.

Yes. We had a good relation between all the internship students. Even though we were based in different offices around UK, we would regularly speak to one another to resolve any queries or just to catch up with one another. During the Annual Ball, we managed to spend time with one another and bonded quite well.

As I live in London, I was lucky not to pay for rent, but due to the Central London location, the rent would be very expensive. Also, socialising around the river (where the office is located) is quite pricey, but there were a few restaurants around that were reasonable too.

The nightlife in London is fantastic. Not only is there a great variety of music, but there are many things to do apart from clubbing, for example viewing London by night.

There was a wide range of activities that could completed outside of work, that were organised by the company, and organised by the interns. Being proactive was key to getting engaged in these activities.