Summer Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed the internship. It gave me the opportunity to work in an international company for a good length of time and gave me experience, which will benefit me greatly in the future. The different projects allowed me to experience different elements of the business and I enjoyed this variety of work. Also, the organisation of the internship was brilliant and this made the process very smooth and easy.

My colleagues were really pleasant, friendly and easy to get on with. I was surprised at such a large company and with the number of internships, placements and work experience students, how welcoming they were. They appreciated you doing small tasks and valued your input no matter how small. This gave me confidence to attempt to do more difficult tasks.

The supervisors gave me lots of support and gave me tasks which were correct for my ability. They did not give you tasks which would be really challenging to complete but tried to make sure the tasks were interesting. However, sometimes delivery of tasks was quite fast and so I recommend writing everything down so you don't forget any important details. Also all of the team were very helpful when I had questions or queries.

The majority of the time I had projects on the go. At the beginning it was more difficult to be given work and so there were times when I was not doing much. However, I started asking around for work and once people knew me, they starting finding lots of things for me to do. So after the first week, the balance came naturally and was nearly perfect. This would be expected in any organisation as the first week is always an settling in period.

I was given a small amount of responsibility, which I was glad about. I was on my placement to learn not to prove that I could do everything on my own. They made sure that the work given was really about learning, rather than doing lots of things on your own. Also as an internship you are not there for that long so trying to develop relationships with clients, is not really beneficial, as they will not be involved with you again.

There are so many skills I have developed as a result of the internship. I have developed communication skills, knowledge about the different departments in Savills and knowledge about the valuation process. Also working in an office environment is very different to university and I feel it helps you have more focus whilst studying. The training helps you identify areas of weakness and areas of strength, which helps you set future goals and aims.

The atmosphere in the office was lovely and friendly. I have never worked in such a pleasant office. The open plan layout enabled colleges to communicate easily with each other, without having to resort to emails all the time. This face to face communication definitely made it easier as an intern to meet people and to start networking. The lighting and interior décor all created a warm feel and helped me to fit in quickly. It was definitely not a corporate environment, cold environment, which I was happy about.

It was incredibly well organised the HR team made sure everything was done efficiently. They produced checklists to make sure everything was done on time and I found these really useful. I was always surprised at how efficient things were and it was great not to have to worry about the admin side not being completed. The forms were all completed a while before the internship started so there was no rushing to sort things out, which was nice.

The team took me to site visits, which was really beneficial to my learning. They also held departmental talks through the London office, which gave you an introduction to all the different departments in Savills, which was extremely helpful. At the beginning of my internship I thought I would like to be in the rural department, however after the experience I feel the planning department may be more for me.

I would definitely consider applying for the grad scheme and will try my best to receive a place. Savills would be a great company to work for because it is efficient, organised and it cares about the employees. The graduate scheme seems like a good starting point for a career in real estate and will help you progress and achieve your career ambitions.

Not really in the regional offices.

The cost of living in Norwich was relatively low compared to London.

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There was a rounder's tournament which was really fun, with other organisations. We had a hog roast and drinks at half time, which was a great opportunity to get networking.