This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
-
The Role
-
The Company
-
The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I did really enjoy my placement because the work was interesting, I learnt a lot of new skills, the people were lovely and welcoming, but occasionally the work got very repetitive. In future, I'd like to have more variation in tasks to get the score from an 8 to a 9 or 10!
Very valued! There's a really good community spirit here and your colleagues become your friends. They all really want to help you out in your life after internship as well, so many were talking to people and helping me network which does make you feel really appreciated. Due to seating arrangements however (I sometimes had to sit apart from the team due to limited desk space) sometimes I didn't feel as included as I'd like to be, but this was out of everyone's control.
I was given a lot of support. My manager and I had weekly 1 to 1s and three placement reviews throughout my internship so we could address anything that was bothering me, and explore where I wanted to go with the internship. They were understanding if I needed time off, and were incredibly supportive in my job search, giving me advice and getting in touch with people they knew if they thought it would help.
It varied. Because the project was quite responsive, there were some quiet days and other very busy days. But generally I had enough to do without being snowed under or stressed. I was working on a digital product which was then being launched to the wider organisation, so the period before launch was very busy while the immediate period just after was incredibly quiet, but this couldn't really be avoided.
I was given more than I expected without feeling too daunted. I was given free reign to be in charge of communications and promotion for my project and so I had the opportunity to lead a team, have one to one meetings with interested parties, and make creative decisions. The feedback to these tasks was overwhelmingly positive and so I felt I really grew in confidence.
I learnt a lot of digital skills which will hopefully benefit me in my career, even though they're not the skills I was specifically looking for. But now I will probably qualify for a lot of roles I hadn't previously considered, such as digital communications, website management and digital content exec. Other skills, however, such as excel spreadsheets, databases, customer feedback and resolving problems will directly benefit me in the next role I have lined up.
The Company
There were a lot of moments where the atmosphere was very fun, either through general banter and conversation between colleagues or organised fundraisers and games throughout the building (especially during October when it's SU2C week). The majority of the time, however, it's calm and everyone's working hard but there's a general buzz of conversation and everyone's in a good mood, so you're not afraid to go up and talk to someone.
The internship feels so well put together. There's a member of staff who's sole job is to manage all the interns and make sure they're well supported. The team I was in has had interns for years and so they know exactly how to manage them and how to get the most out of your time together. There's also a really supportive network of interns (around 40) to keep you company throughout the three months.
There were quite a few employability workshops run especially for interns, as our employability is one of their main priorities. And every time my team had training for any kind of software, I was included. So I've ended up with careers training, GA training, and on-brand copywriting. Plus I had others lined up that I wasn't able to complete.
Subsidised Canteen
Company Parties/Events
Working from home
Travel loan
Pretty promising - other interns have already been taken on permanently and some of my colleagues were hoping to get me a permanent job here. But due to restructuring, and personal choices, that's been difficult and I have now secured a job elsewhere.
The Culture
We had 'Thirsty Thursdays' every week where we'd go out for drinks and food, plus evening events which we'd all help out with. However, the further through the placement we've got, the more cliquey the interns have become so we have less of a social scene than we did to begin with.
Expensive - living and working in the centre of London costs a lot so we couldn't do it very much. There were your average restaurants in the local high street such as Wagamamas and Chipotle, but these aren't super cheap. Although down the road in Kings Cross is Pizza Union which does very good and very cheap pizza. So it's swings and roundabouts!
There were a lot of really interesting and independent bars and pubs, many which give you discounts as a CRUK employee. But I'm not sure about clubs at all.
Quite a few but these were mainly volunteering opportunities.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
London
November 2016