Business Analyst intern Review

From day one you are given an idea of the project you will be involved in and reading materials are provided so you could get to grips with the context of everything currently ongoing in the project. I was always given a task that was always important to the running of the project - as such this information was requested by managers and leads to gather valuable information for whether any additional resources will be required to complete particular tasks before deadline. Steadily you are given more responsibility, so I was tasked with taking charge of a kick-off session with several colleagues from around the world and also daily meetings with tens of Shell employees around the world.

Everybody is willing to help out. There is no visible "hierarchy", everyone helps out everyone in the office, whether it be your line manager or supervisor. Everyone is approachable even if they are not working on your project.

Supervisor was particularly helpful with introducing me to background information regarding the project. Having grasped this knowledge he provided me with tasks that would give me exposure to several important stakeholders in the project and this would further enhance my knowledge of the project and the particulars with regards to who was in charge of what - and who best to approach when confronted by a particular problem or question. Alongside my supervisor, another manager was particularly helpful throughout my internship having been through the same process two years prior. I would keep in contact particularly with him and my supervisor on a daily basis throughout my internship.

At the beginning things were fairly quiet. But as the internship went on longer and people started going on annual leave, I was given more and more responsibility with covering my supervisor for instance and being in charge of a particular aspect of the project. So my schedule definitely became more busy but still very manageable as I found myself leaving at 6pm at the very latest.

I was in charge of gathering testers and confirming their availability for a crucial phase of the testing part of the deployment of our IT project. I was also in charge of relaying updates to our global focal points with bugs and issues that would arise and liaised with the relevant iteration leads on information regarding them and when we expected them to be resolved by. I was also tasked with maintaining records of around 100 users that would form the focus of another crucial phase of the deployment and liaised with different country retail teams to gather the availability of these testers from the different countries. And throughout my internship from the first day I was responsible for being the go-to-guy for translation defects - which formed a large part of the deployment process.

Since my degree is practical (Computer Science), it has given me the confidence to approach leadership roles with more enthusiasm. At Shell I was given the opportunity to liaise with so many different people from all different backgrounds - which will definitely assist me in my projects at university - given that in my final year my projects will involve working with an external client.

Everyone is always interested in having a chat. Very often colleagues bring in chocolates or food from their cultural background - which is nice since its always great to have different types of food. The atmosphere in general is pretty chilled whilst also very professional with everyone occupied with the tasks that they have at hand.

Initially I wasn't aware too much of the tasks I would be involved in. I didn't really get a list of deliverables as to what was expected of me from the offset. However, each week it was pretty clear to me what work was expected of me, particularly with my supervisor and deployment manager always keeping me on my toes with new tasks to do.

Personal training - we had a workshop session where we worked with other graduates and current undergraduates and postgraduates on coming up with a way of developing a product. There were also numerous online activities to increase our knowledge of the business and the legalities surrounding the business operations we undertake.

Very appealing. The company does not drown you with work and the work is very dynamic. Business is never "as usual", so everyday you expect something new and a fresh challenge. So I wouldn't expect tasks that are mundane for more than one day at a time. Although yes there is some admin tasks involved, but that is the same with every profession you enter. By and large the spontaneous nature of the project made it very enjoyable and made it intriguing. I would definitely consider working for the company in the future full-time. There was nothing negative to take away from my experiences at Shell.

Yes, quite often the interns would get together for drinks and would often have lunch together - those that could - since many interns were working at a different office altogether.

Since I commuted from home I didn't feel the impact of this. But since the placement was in the heart of London - the price of food and rent would no doubt have been very extortionate had I lived away from home - I don't think I would have been able to afford it. The socialising scene is very good as always in London - loads of cinemas, shopping malls, parks nearby to keep you entertained - so expect a fun time outside working hours in London.

I never engaged in the night life - I always just went home and enjoyed sometime with family and friends.

Lots of opportunities. I was invited to an event hosted by Shell's Asian Network. And also several IT specific events to do with Cyber Security. You are always kept in the loop regarding these with mailouts being sent during working hours. There was also a running event nearby for charity - a 10 km run.