Hr / PD INTERN Review

The internship was really well organized. On top of the work given by our departments there were many things scheduled into the weeks to enable us to learn more and train our skills, examples include presentation skills and CV workshops. They also organized two socials which was good. Overall the internship was enjoyable and a good learning experience.

The HR department all made an effort to make the interns feel welcomed and valued. Regular thanks and feedback were received. We were included in departmental meetings which was a good way to feel involved with everyone. We were also asked for advice and feedback regularly and the suggestions we gave were listened to.

The support and guidance from HR was fantastic, from PD it was very limited but this was compensated for by the fact that HR provided more work knowing that the PD area of things was quiet. My manager regularly gave me things to do and helped me to understand the workplace more and what a career in HR would be like in a more general sense.

For the first three weeks I had a very good level of work, the last week was quite quiet but I feel there was little that could have been done about this from an HR point of view. This was due to the work from PD being slow to come in, there had been recent staff changes and the department were in the process of recruiting a new member so this may be part of the reason.

The responsibility varied week to week. inevitably with any internship some of the work you do will be fairly administrative but we were also given tasks which seemed much more worthwhile, for example drafting up interviews and helping with data on gender and diversity. The balance between the essential (but perhaps slightly dull) jobs that needed to be done and those which felt more important / responsible was good.

The skills I have developed will be invaluable. Not only have they improved my knowledge of job applications and the whole set up being that but also have given me an understanding of a different industry and how major law firms work. I feel that the internship helped my general understanding of businesses and I have further developed key skills for the working environment.

The atmosphere was very welcoming. This was a surprise given the nature of the company but we were all made to feel very welcome. They had casual Fridays, plenty of office chat and fantastic (award winning) cookies. Everyone was professional but had the time of day to stop for a chat as well.

The internship was very well organized with a time table of events throughout the month as well as scheduled time for group preparation for our project (which took place on the final day). We were given flexibility during the day to decide when to do our various tasks but enough structure and feedback to prevent idleness.

I personally do not want to become a lawyer but for those who would be interested in working in law it would be a great opportunity to get to know the company. There was also help and advice given for those who were considering an application which would be invaluable and real 'insider' knowledge.

Inevitably London is an expensive place to live. Many of the interns lived at home or went to university in London so had accommodation already. I expect if you needed to pay for somewhere to live for the month it would be unaffordable but given that it is only 4 weeks I imagine most people would be able to sort out accommodation without high costs.

There were two socials organized and leaving drinks on the final night. These were all paid for and a great opportunity to get to know the other interns (especially as those in different departments we did not necessarily have much contact with). The staff came as well which was good.