Events Intern Review

I have thoroughly enjoyed my placement year, it has been an amazing opportunity to gain relevant work experience & develop my key skills. I have been so fortunate to work for such a friendly, fun company who provide their employees with a wide range of experiences & benefits. The placement has allowed me to organise corporate incentive events from start to finish giving me valuable insight into the events industry. I’ve found the experience of working at the Silverstone race track and at such a prestige venue a great motivating factor. I have had an amazing year and will be truly sad to leave.

I 100% felt very valued by all my colleagues, although daunting at first they soon welcomed me as part of the team. Everyone was very supportive throughout my placement and would always give me a lot of recognition & praise for my hard work. I have met so many lovely, friendly and kind people throughout this internship who all greatly appreciate the work the intern does throughout the year. You are given a lot of responsibility and delegated tasks that genuinely effect the team and running of the business.

There is an extensive induction programme for new interns which includes a two week handover period with the previous intern. During this time I had multiple training sessions and meetings with my manager to discuss what I want to get from the placement. My manager was very supportive and provided guidance where needed. She was extremely approachable and really encouraged my development throughout the year. Training events and initiatives occur on a regular basis in order to keep up-to-date with the firms' practices; these sometimes required me to drive down the head office in reading to attend.

As I worked in events, how busy I was on a daily basis varied depending on if we had events running. Some days would be quieter than others however this was a good opportunity to be proactive and get ahead ready for the next event. Some periods were busier than others with it being extremely busy around certain events such as WEC & Grand Prix. As the year goes on you are given more responsibility and delegated more tasks.

During my internship I was given a great deal of responsibility, from taking client enquiries to preparing proposals and budgets to independently running the event on the day. I was also trusted to liaise with CEO’s and managing directors of companies who would enquiry about events at the Porsche Experience Centre. This improved my confidence over the year & allowed me to volunteer for more tasks such as facility tours. For most of my placement year I did not feel like an intern. The responsibilities and work load given by the managers was really helpful as it has helped me develop and improve my skills.

I have developed a variety of transferable skills whilst working for Porsche. For example time management, customer service, presentations skills etc. Through developing these over the year will help me manage my workload at university better and prioritise tasks. I have also developed a lot of practical skills and event knowledge / experience which will prove beneficial at university when relating theory, and also with future career prospects for example during interviews as evidence to back up the skills I have. During the internship I have completed a number of training sessions such as data protection, emotional intelligence & health and safety. As well as constant guided learning throughout the year from my manager and other members of the team.

The atmosphere in the office was always really fun and enjoyable. Everyone was always happy to answer any questions and I never felt that I couldn’t openly ask for help. All members of staff really valued each other celebrating birthdays with presents & cake and would always talk about how there weekend was or what they was up to that evening. Although a small team everyone gets on really well making it a very friendly and welcoming environment.

I found that the overall internship was very well organised and I fully understood what was expected from me at the start of the placement. I was provided with multiple training sessions in regards to the company’s policies and background and during my handover period I was provided with a very detailed manual which explained my job responsibilities and instructions. I felt that my manager was very supportive of my development and helped me grow my skills by giving me a lot of responsibility, especially with the management and running of events. Although there was a structure and a brief to my placement, I was given the freedom to develop my responsibilities and contribute to different projects. Overall the placement was really well set up and managed throughout the year.

Porsche invest heaving in the training and development of there interns by providing them with product training at the beginning of the internship and a generous 2 week handover period with the previous intern to go through role specific training. On top of this, interns have the opportunity to get involved with multiple training sessions such as interpersonal skills, presentation skills and much more! We have also been given CV workshops & psychometric testing training. All of these training opportunities allowed me to develop transferrable skills as well as improve my future employment prospects.

Future employment prospects with Porsche are slim due to the size of the team at Porsche Experience Centre in Silverstone. However at the head office in Reading there are a lot more potential future employment opportunities. Many departments have taken on previous interns for full time roles and management always consider past interns when new work opportunities come up.

The Events Internship is based at Silverstone Race Track whereas all of the other inters are based at the head office in Reading, so the social seen amongst other interns depends on the individual. The other interns are always socialising and meeting up at the weekend so the opportunity is there if you are willing to travel. In terms of the social scene amongst the team at Silverstone, they were always up for arranging plans such as bowling, quiz nights and evening meals.

Fortunately for me I lived only ten minutes away from Silverstone so I was able to stay in my home town which financially helped me a lot. Socialising was also fairly cheap, both Northampton and Milton Keynes have places to eat and go out with the cost not being over the top.

Milton Keynes and Northampton town provided good nightlife and there is plenty of pubs and restaurants in the local area.

There were always opportunities to get involved with activities outside of work such as gym/sporting activities, bowling, evening meals, parties & birthday celebrations. You would always be getting emails from the Silverstone committee asking if you want to get involved with boot camps and join rounder’s teams.