This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
All in all, I really could not have imagined spending my placement year at a better place with the people I met, this I learned about both working life, the industry and myself. Looking back, I really enjoyed the learning process and not to mention all the perks of working at a company like Warner Bros and opportunities that brought about.
Being in research, I was a part of a very small team consisting of only my manager and I (we were a part of a bigger team as well). This meant that I was given a lot of responsibility in my role, more than many other interns I think as anything my manager could not get to immediately would be handed over to me to deal with. As such I really felt like I could make a contribution to the bigger team which in turn made me feel very valued.
My manager was always very available for any questions I had or any guidance I needed but at the same time I did not feel micro managed as I would also try to do things on my own. I always felt like a had a support system that I felt I could trust and rely on in times of need.
The TV industry tends to go in cycles meaning that sometimes I would be very busy and had a very long to do list and had to turn things down as it would not be possible to complete everything on time, but sometimes I would actively look for things to do when things were moving relatively slower.
My responsibilities were increased as the year went along and as I got to know the job better and the trust grew. One example of how my responsibilities grew is that I started out doing the daily ratings (which are essential) to having been doing bigger projects that I presented to senior management which was both insightful and rewarding as they really appreciated the outcome.
I think the placement helped me in a lot of different areas. Firstly I have developed a lot more professional interpersonal skills in terms of dealing with people via email and understanding the business structure and the politics in the work place. Not the mention the excel skills I have gained working with Excel everyday, which will be very helpful not only in my business management studies but also in working life in the future. This year has also given me a much more in depth understanding of how I will structure my degree in my final year in terms of courses I would like to pursue.
The Company
Very relaxed. Everyone is very friendly and I felt very at ease with everyone.
Very well organized by the HR team. WB invest a lot in interns with several extensive workshops for interns throughout the year which helped in areas of work that I had not even thought of. One example of this was body language and how people perceive people differently depending on this.
The HR did do a lot of workshops but I did not really feel like I had any specific personal training and development invested in me personally. There are opportunities to do IT courses but you really have to go after it yourself if you want to do it, which I regret not doing.
Company Parties/Events
Staff Sales/Staff Shop
WB does not have a graduate scheme but a lot of interns do come back to work either as a temp or they are offered a permanent role. I would love to come back if I was offered the chance, without a doubt. Working here is the future would be an amazing opportunity.
The Culture
I found a good group of core friends that I would have lunch with and socialise with outside out work too. We would go do activities like climbing, yoga, raves, go explore different places for lunch around work. I would definitely say I made some good friends that I will stay in touch with for many years to come.
Living in London is very expensive. Events are usually also quite pricey, but having that said you there are also many events that are free or very cheap. London is very expensive in general. WB's head offices are based on Holborn which is very close to Oxford Circus and Covent Garden that are the most central parts of London which is nice. London is a very versatile city with events going on everywhere all the time. There is no time to be bored.
Working at WB means that you get to go to lunch time screenings of newly released WB theatrical features and also getting exclusive tickets to premieres if you're lucky. In addition to this, there were company days like going to watch Harry Potter and the cursed child for the day that I realise we were very fortunate be able to take part in. We also had volunteering days where different people from different parts of the company get together. This year we went to Primary school and helped out with painting, planting and building things in the playground for the kids which was a nice day out of the office and very rewarding too.
Details
Placement (10 Months+)
London
July 2016