Cancer Research UK intern Review

I really enjoyed my internship at Cancer Research UK, it is an great organisation and everyone here is lovely! During my time as an intern I was able to get involved and contribute to lots of real projects, and learnt so much about my department and the organisation. I was always given real work to do (not just photocopying!) and there were always opportunities to get more involved with any other projects/learn more about other teams that interested me. We also fundraised with other interns, and there were weekly social events organised to get to know one another. Workshops were put on for presentation, CV and interview tips which were all really useful and provided us with skills to take forward to other roles at the end of the internship.

I definitely felt valued by my colleagues, I was always treated like a full time employee and didn't feel like an intern. I felt that the work I produced was always valued and even though there were areas I needed to work on, I was always given constructive feedback on how I could improve. I really got involved in the work that my team did, and if I found a project particularly interesting that someone else in my team was doing I was given the opportunity to become involved in it too. We also had weekly team meetings to discuss what we were all working on.

My manager gave me so much support during my internship, I told her at the beginning the skills that I particularly wanted to make progress on and she made sure to set up opportunities for me to develop these skills. If there was anything that I said I wanted help with she put in a lot of time and effort into providing me with this support. We also had weekly 1:1 meetings so that she could check in with what I was working on and help me plan my time that week. We had reviews in place throughout the internship where she gave me helpful feedback that I can take with me after the internship finishes.

I was always given projects to work on so always had something to do and didn't feel bored. I felt that there was enough time for me to complete everything so also didn't feel rushed. If I wanted more to do there was always the opportunity to take on more so it was overall a really good balance.

I was given responsibility during my placement as the projects I worked on were real projects that my team were working on too, but my manager frequently checked in with me and gave me feedback so I was not left to do them alone without help. I also had the opportunity to work on my own independent work which I presented back to the team at the end of my placement.

I think the experience and skills that I have gained here will be really helpful for future jobs and good to put on a CV. Having the feedback from my manager, attending the skills sessions, and experience working in a business will all be useful to take forward.

There was a really good general atmosphere in the office, everyone is so friendly and approachable. I met with several different teams when I started the internship and everyone offered to support me in anyway they could whilst I was an intern here. As we were working in a charity there were also lots of opportunities to get involved with fundraising events too.

The overall internship was really well organised, as all my projects were outlined to me right at the start of the placement, and it was clear when the deadlines were for each one. All interns also had 3 reviews throughout our internship which were really useful for getting feedback from our managers and updating them on our progress.

I think there were lots of opportunities for personal development, as we were asked what areas we wanted to work on at the beginning and given the chance to work on these skills. We also were given skills sessions, and the opportunity to have a mentor to help with our personal development.

There was a good social scene with other interns, we organised weekly social gatherings so that we could get to know each other and go to different places around Angel. We also all got involved in intern fundraising, which was a great way to work with other interns we might not usually work with, and go to different fundraising events like a pub quiz.