Research Intern in Major Giving & Appeals Review

I enjoyed the internship, but beyond week three I ceased to find the work particualrly challenging.

I could see that my work was invaluable to my colleagues and was regularly thanked for my contributions.

My mentor gave me as much guidance as possible to carry out my role efficiently. She also supported my learning above what was necessary, particularly with the computer programme Raiser's Edge and allowing me to go to other departments to gain a broader skill set and experience.

Weekly allocation meetings meant a suitable amount of work was always set and with research you can always create new jobs if you complete set work before the deadline.

Once I was trained on the various resources and shown templates of ideal work I was left to my own devices to produce suitable research.

I was already adept at research so beyond being shown some new resources I didn't develop that skill particularly. What I did take from the experience though was greater appreciation of how large companies are run, confidence, some administrative experience, learning how to use Riaser's Edge and from the CV and applications workshop they ran I have a better approach to job applications and CV writing.

The atmosphere was lively, there were frequent celebrations of birthdays and promotions and everyone was always friendly and chatty.

The internship was very well set up, the only disappointment was the removal of one of the tasks in the original role description before the internship began, and which for me had been a major draw to doing the internship.

They trained and developed me as far as they could as a researcher making weekly checks to see if there was anything else I wanted to take on or learn in relation to that role.

I have applied for a job with them and will have an interview in the week after my internship ends. Otherwise I hope to get onto their graduate scheme for the 2012 start.

There were several interns in the same department and through the intern fundraising committee I was able to socialise with even more from around the company both within work and outside.

I was lucky in that I was able to stay with a partner so my living costs were minimal allowing me to put the money I earnt from keeping a Saturday job into socialising.

There are tonnes of bars and palces to eat within minutes of the office making it a fantastic place to be based.

There were plenty of opportunities to get involved with a range of different activities outside of work.