Finance Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my time here. I was given the opportunity to work on a project that I felt had real value to the company, and as part of that I met with a wide range of people, some who were very senior. The work I was given was extremely interesting and had an overview of the enitre business, so I got a very good insight into how a large company is run. As part of my time here I had the opportunity to spend a day working in store, and this meant I could link the stores to the support office and see what is truly important to the customers. It was also great to see the financials and reporting behind the new investments and products I see in store every time I visit. I continued to socialise with the other interns throughout my time here which was really good fun. I had an extremely enjoyable experience at Boots and would strongly recommend the finance internship.

My colleagues were extremely friendly and I felt like I fit in immediately. I was often thanked for the work I was doing which made me feel like it was important to the company and valued by the team. As well as working on my own project, I was sometimes given some work by my colleagues during busy periods, and this gave me the chance to really feel part of the team and to help out where I could. I was trusted to provide accurate and good quality work. There were also several times we had social events as a team, such a team lunches and activities which meant I could get to know everyone really well.

My manager was extremely supportive and we had meetings every week during which I could ask questions. My line manager seemed very interested in me and whether I was enjoying my time here and so I felt like I could go to her with any problems I might have. I was also sat at the desk next to her and so any smaller questions I had could be answered immediately. I was always asked if I was alright or if I needed help which meant I was never at an impass with my work. During my internship there was a week when my supervisor went on holiday, but this was very carefully planned for and I was told exactly who to go to for help and guidance, almost like a temporary line manager. There were several people in my team I felt I could turn to for help and so even if my supervisor was in a meeting or out of office, I was never left without support.

My workload varied a lot, with some days towards the start being fairly slow. However, this was mainly due to not having a laptop for the first 3 days which meant research into my project was difficult. For future years, I believe Boots will always ensure the interns will have laptops from day 1 as this is a problem they have now tackled. I think that often, how busy you were depended on what you made of your day; I arranged a lot of meetings in the first few weeks often having 3 or 4 on the same day, and this meant I felt very busy and always had a lot to keep me working on which I enjoyed. However, if I felt I needed a slower day to catch up on my work and plan what I was going to do with information I gathered, I could very easily have not booked meetings for that day and taken the time to work on my project alone at my desk. The workload has lasted the full 9 weeks and I think by the time the internship is over, I will be at an almost perfect finishing point.

My project was very interesting with a wide scope, and this meant I could really make it my own. I was working on a process that was owned by my manager, and therefore throughout my time here she passed responsibility for that process completely over to me. I felt in charge of the whole process and how effective it is for the business, and because of this level of responsibility I was motivated to do well. I was responsible for arranging my own meetings and managing my own time here as well as ensuring I delivered all my end goals.

Working in Boots has allowed me to develop skills in time management and initiative, as well as teamwork. These will all be extremely useful in my studies, and the ability to use my initiative especially will help me when working in a fast paced environment. I have learnt to assess large amounts of information quickly and accurately, and come to my own conclusions and stick to them. The internship was in finance, however I do not have a finance background form university and so did not know much about accounting at all, even the basics. Boots did not hold this against me at all, and held several accounting fundamentals courses so I understood the phrases I heard around the office on a daily basis. Because of this, I have developed a better idea of what working in finance entails and it has really helped me make decisions about how my skills will suit a future career in this sector.

The office atmosphere was great, with people giving you to opportunity to complete work if you were busy, but also having 5 minute breaks occasionally so there could be a release from the workload. The envionment was professional, but everyone was very friendly and accomodating no matter how high up the organisation they were. There was also a 'dress down Friday' every week which meant people could wear their more comfortable clothes and be in high spirits for the weekend.

The internship was organised very well with a full week of induction activities to make sure we knew the structure of Boots and could get to know the other interns. There were activities set up for us to learn the basics of accounting so we could understand the jargon we heard around the office on a daily basis, and which some of us even needed for our roles. This was particularly useful for me as I have come from a science background and have never done a course in accounting. There was one problem with the latops as I did not recieve mine until the end of the first week which made research more difficult, although Boots has now recognised this problem and it should have been sorted for future years.

I felt like Boots invested a lot in me, and set up a lot of training sessions and 'getting to know the business' courses and tours. Although my work was (hopefully) very beneficial to the business, it was clear that Boots was also very keen for the experience to be as beneficial to me as possible as well. There were many employees who invested their time and effort into ensuring I was enjoying the experience and learnings from Boots as I went along. I was given a whole project to complete and I feel like Boots invested a lot in me by giving me work that could affect the overall performance of the business.

I would love to return to Boots as a full time employee. Boots offers fantastic experience to work in finance within a retail company, and it is extremely interesting to see the effects of the work you do coming to life in store. There is the opportunity within the orginisation to work in all sorts of job roles, sometimes even roles completely different to the one you may have held previously, and this means you can find where your strengths truly lie. Boots strives to look after their people, and always try to promote from within where possible, and therefore this is an extremely good company for career prospects.

I often went out with the other interns I met through the programme. Occasionally we would go for a drink or to the park after work if it was nice weather, and sometimes we would go into Nottingham at the weekends on nights out. During the induction week, the talent teams made sure we had a lot of time together to really get to know each other and make friends. We would meet for lunch almost every day which was often a nice break from the desk. As there were 8 interns, there was almost always someone who was up for going out or meeting up. We all got on very well and had some great nights out together.

I lived at home durin my placement as I am from Nottingham originally, however most of the others rented acocmodation easily out of their wages. There are many activities in the area which you can do for free or a very small charge, such as bars with free entry. There were a few bars which had things such as pool or table tennis tables which you could use for a small charge and this was a cheap was of socialising. The cost of food and drink in Nottingam is not too bad, especially compared to London where I go to uni. There are other activities such as the cinema and crazy golf in the corner house, although these are more costly with a cinema ticket being around £10 per person!

Nottingham is quite renowned for it's nightlife, and there are many bars which various perks, such as crazy cocktails. My favourite places for these are Boiler Maker and Hockly Arts Club. You are never stuck in one place in Nottingham as there are hundreds of bars or clubs all in the city centre within walking distance, so you can really mix it up depending on where you feel like going next. Nottingham is also home to several large night clubs, such as Stealth and Rock City, so it is very easy to make a night out as big as you want it.

There were many opportunities to get involved in outside work, such as Benny Day, which is a day Boots hosts to raise money for the Boots Benevolent Fund. This has activities such as rounders on the field and many stalls selling food and products. There was also the opportunity to help organise and attend the charity ball; the interns' role as part of this was to source raffle and auction prizes which proved a challenge, but rewarding when prizes came in. Boots also hosts things such as 10k runs, and events for significant days such as the American Independence Day picnic. I believe there are some sports teams you can get involved in, although i was never told how to join these. I am sure it would not be too dificult to enquire about though.