Cancer Research UK intern (BMF) Review

It was amazing. I had such a great time with my team, really enjoyed the work and felt like I've really developed over these past 12 weeks.

Very valued. I wasn't given 'typical' intern tasks such as photo-copying and fetching coffee; within my first week I was approaching businesses asking them to donate. My team were also always really encouraging and have always thank me for my contribution and time here.

I was always able to ask questions - never felt like I was really being a inconvenience. I was also given the freedom to make my own decisions as well - I didn't have to run everything through my manager which was great as it made me feel trusted with the responsibility. Alongside this, I was also really supported development wise, and my manager has been really encouraging about skill building as well as job applications etc.

Obviously it comes in waves, but I always had something to do. My internship was events based and had two events I was aiding with in the 9th and 10th week of my internship respectively. So at the beginning I had more time to think creatively and brainstorm about prize ideas and research possible business to connect with whereas in the week of the events I was running around quite a lot doing lots of little but important tasks like creating prize vouchers or coordinating volunteers.

I fair amount of responsibility I'd say. I managed relationships with businesses entirely by myself and was given the free rein to do so. I would say it was a good balance as my responsibilities built up over time with my confidence - I wasn't given so much responsibility that I was really worried I was going to mess everything up but enough that I felt I had a bar to raise myself to and further.

I have already finished my degree but this internship definitely built upon it. My degree was very theoretical so while I knew I had the potential to fulfil several skills important to employers I had no proof. This has given me the opportunity to showcase what I can do and has even shown myself that I actually have real world skills.

CRUK has the best office environment. It's very high energy and vibrant as well as being possibly the most friendly place I have ever been. It sounds like an exaggeration but I honestly haven't met an unfriendly person here. It's also a very collaborative environment, different teams are always asking each other for thoughts and advice - there is a real sense of achieving goals all together across the whole charity, rather than an individual achieving career goals.

Very organised. We had 2,6 and 12 (end of placement) reviews with our managers, as well as weekly 1:1's. We also had induction days, leaving days etc. I was also told by my manager exactly what I would be working on from the beginning, including percentages of my time it should take - so I always knew exactly what I should be doing and working towards, and exactly what my end goals should be.

There were special intern training days, such as CV and interview skills, dragons den type competitions etc which were a fantastic opportunity to hone skills. My manager was also fantastic at checking in with me and helping me build skills that I wanted to and helping my personal development.

I would love to stay if I could! I'll be checking all the jobs in the upcoming months to see if I can return. I would even keep volunteering indefinitely if I was able to but I live outside of London and my commute costs too much. I wouldn't say there were an awful lot of opportunities for entry position jobs here but I think that's due to it being a charity and the fact jobs are rarely created, instead positions are only available when someone leaves a position.

I think so, there were drinks every Thursday, and many intern-y events but unfortunately I wasn't able to participate. My commute too and from London every day took 2 and a half hours, so staying late meant not getting back until the late evening and I had to be up at 5 to leave for work the next day - so not too much socialising for me!

As it was London it was quite expensive but that is entirely expected, and there are always cheap places to find.

Angel is a very exciting area and the few times I was able to get out and socialise I enjoyed the various bars/pubs we went to.

I've volunteered for a couple of events, collected money for Stand up to Cancer at Liverpool Street Station and could have done so much more if I was based in London but as I'm not that somewhat limited what I was able to do. I received at least a couple of emails a week with opportunities, it was just a shame I was unable to due to the restrictions from my commute.