Insight Analyst Review

A very enjoyable placement year. For my role I have been exposed to fast paced environment and have been placed with high level responsibility. It’s a great work environment and everyone around you is very keen and happy to help with any issues you may face. The work is also very interesting and you are constantly moving on to different projects, which is what has made the job so enjoyable for me.

Like mentioned in my previous comments I have felt incredibly valued by my colleagues. I was immediately welcomed into the team, travelling around the country to meet everyone, which was a great experience, we all went out together for meals after meetings, which really got me integrated into the team, and allowed me to get to know everyone.

I have been provided with a lot of support and guidance throughout my placement here at virgin media. I have been mentored by members of my team, having weekly sessions to discuss my work, and how I can improve, as well as my manager using tools such as a PDP to aid my development. This area I feel really makes Virgin stand out from a lot of companies, I have been at companies before where being an intern, means you get over looked, but at Virgin, everyone and I mean everyone is willing to help you out if needed.

Due to the nature of my work, it meant that some periods where quieter than others. But this did allow me time to complete university work or complete training courses, so although I didn't always have work, I always had something which I could fill my time with, but on the whole, it was a good level of work to have.

During my placement I have been provided with a number of high level responsibilities , sending out reports and pieces of analysis which have gone all the way up to senior leadership level, which really emphasises how much faith my team have put in me, and something I know a lot of placement students don't get at other companies.

The skills which I have developed this year will be invaluable to me when returning to university and also when applying to graduate jobs. I have enhanced my CV with skills such as SQL, and I have learnt things to do with software such as Excel for example which will really help me out with some of my units at university next year, and make work a lot quicker and easier to complete.

Virgin is renowned for having a great work atmosphere for a reason. It’s a very fun place to work, everyone gets on with their jobs, and works very hard, but at the same time there is always something happening in the office, to make that work life balance bang on, which has been great for me this year.

The placement on the whole was very well organised. The intern community was very well set up and we had meetings every few months to bond with the other interns and discuss how are roles where going and what we had been doing. As well as this we have had specific training material set up for us, and awards days to celebrate each other’s achievements.

The firm invested a lot in me in order to help me develop. Travel was covered for me to travel around the country for training courses/meetings. Software licenses were also paid for in order to allow me to gain exposure to different software packages and become more adept with using them, with SQL being a prime example.

Future employment with the company is looking very promising, I am currently in the process of applying for a graduate scheme, where current interns get fast tracked through the application process. I have already had a letter of recommendation sent through from my head of department, so things are looking promising. Its very much based on how you have done this year, and if your good enough, they want you back.

The social side of the intern programme at Virgin media was a lot better than I was originally expecting, the interns have really bonded and spend a lot of time with each other. I live with a number of fellow interns, and we all go out together socially. Other interns who live in other parts of the country are also well integrated, and as mentioned earlier, we meet up every few months for social events etc.

I lived in Reading for the year. Reading is not as cheap as living in the more northern areas, but coming from London it was cheaper than what I have been used to. I wouldn't call it cheap as chips, but it’s not far off, as you can get student housing, with reading university having plenty of housing available.

Reading has a great night life, as it is a university city. There are a wide range of places to go, and you also have surrounding towns, if you wish to go further afield.

There were a wide range of opportunities to get involved with outside the time in the office. For example we had an intern 5 a side team set up, where we played every week in a league. A number of other interns got involved with charity projects and other sporting teams, which shows the wide range of opportunities there are for employees