Organisational and Strategic Provider Management Intern Review

I thoroughly enjoyed my internship at BMW. It was all I could of imagined and more. The culture and people in the business are great and really help you giving you all sorts of opportunities and insight whcih was useful for me as I did not know what I wanted to do after University but talking to lots of different people helped me gain an insight into the possible job roles. Being part of a corporate is a great experience as there is a large array of things going on all the time and it gives you valuable expereince in this work environment.

My colleagues were great. I enjoyed working in a smaller team this year, which made me feel even more valued as a member and contributer within a department where lots of initatives and exciting projects were taking place.

My manager was great. He was always welcoming to me joining in on big projects and also enabled me to take on lots of work and different opportunties around the business outside of my day job such as volunteering so he was very supportive. He really did enable me to get out of the year what I wanted.

At the begining not as much. My department hadnt had a full year intern before so they was not sure of my capabilities and what tasks I would be able to do, however as my time went on, I picked up more and more and contributed heavily in a number of initiatives which I really enjoyed.

There was quite a bit of responsibility and for me the particular area came in terms of contacting external third parties which at first was nerve-racking. You are represting a large corporate firm and so it is a large responsibility to act on behalf of them as such. I was also given large responsibility on a number of projects such as rolling out workshops, creating a film within the business and furthermore presenting in front of the management committee board of BMW Financial Services which was a great experience!

Due to the area I worked in this year, it is generally an area of young maturity and is something that is become more and more important in coporates globally so it gave me a key understanding of outsourcing which I can take back to studies. I also was able to put into practise or see in practise a lot of theory learnt through study in terms of actual work tasks as such and also in terms of people, culture and leadership. Having a commerical expereince this year in a corporate environment will help further in my studies as I beleive I can now analyse things much better by applying them to a practical experience and environment.

Atmosphere was great. BMW offers a flexible working environment which means it feels not as corporate as you may think. The office is very open plan and feels very friendly and welcoming. There are also lots of charity days and activities going on in the office which brings a sense of community on a large campus with 3 companies all on the same site (BMW, Alphabet, MINI).

As there was no full year intern before me, I think the handover I had was not very strong and started me off at a disadvantage as such so in this sense the first couple of months was a struggle understanding and finding my feet within the team and the processes etc but from month 4 onwards I would say the placement was great. There was a structure in terms of things I had to do every month but also a lot of variation in tasks and adhoc jobs and projects which I really enjoyed. The HR team were also very supportive and always approachable if I needed anything during the year.

There are endless opportunities at BMW and so in terms of personal development I was able to easily and actively develop myself. I was able to attend development training sessions on all sorts of topics such as Personal Impact and Building positive relationships for example which were great from both a theoretical perspective and also for self awareness and development. There was also opportunities to get involved in focus groups and charity groups etc, however I think the most important part of my self development this year was the networking I was able to do. The people in the business are so welcoming and happy to sit and chat no matter how busy they are so actually making these contacts has helped massively.

Very appealing. The employees at BMW Group tend to move around within the organisation a lot. As it is a large corporate there are lots of choices of departments and areas to work in which I would be interested in for the future. Also, because the culture is so welcoming and enjoyable to be in on a day to day basis, this firm would definitley be one I will be keen to come back to.

I would say not massively. As a group of placement students we didnt do lots and lots together but we had a good balance I think. Within my team of colleagues we went out to lunch a few times and did some fun things such as charity events and also christmas parties for example.

Due to the fact I live locally, I was able to stay at home this year so for me the cost of living would have been the same as if I was living at home. If you come from a University up north where cost of living is generally cheap, this area will seem expensive!

The nightlife in this area is not great. There are lots of restaurants and things btut in terms of bars and clubs there is a few but not a large choice.

Most of the opportunities I encountered were within work however some such as volunteering I did outside of this.