Finance and Business Development Review

As there are over 50 interns at Warner Bros. this internship has not only offered me practical experience in an industry I want to work in but has also been an incredibly fun year. On top of this I got involved in the Sleep Out for the Centre Point charity and there were various other extra curricular activities to get involved in!

Everybody in my team were always super friendly and I knew they were appreciative of the work I was doing. I was not just given menial, ad-hoc tasks, but I was contributing towards and working alongside colleagues in various projects and I knew they valued my opinions. As well as this I was given the responsibility to run projects myself which demonstrated the trust my colleagues had in me and they believed I was capable.

There is such a good support system throughout Warner Bros. and they really are invested in the internship programme and provide various training sessions throughout the year. Within my department I always felt supported by my line managers and supervisors and I was never embarrassed to ask a question as I knew they were always willing and wanting to help. As well as this weekly catch up meetings arranged by my manager allowed me express any concerns or problems I had in a relaxed environment.

Of course there were busier peaks than others but I always had a steady flow of work. On days where I was less busy I would have a research project to focus on or some other form of project. I was able to manage my own time so if I wasn't so busy with my day-to-day responsibilities I would always have something else to focus on.

I was very surprised at how much responsibility I was given within the first couple of weeks of starting. It's not just menial and ad hoc tasks I was given, but real responsibility handling customer inquiries and accounts and being there first point of contact for these things. I was able to create meaningful relationships and rapports with customers face to face, over the phone and over email.

This year has provided me with invaluable experience and a wide skill-set that will be beneficial not only in my final year but also when applying for graduate jobs after I've finished University. I was pushed to improve presentation and communication skills by my managers and supervisors as these were skills I lacked confidence in - I think this demonstrates how invested Warner Bros./managers are in the Interns they hire as they continuously push you to develop and build on skills you potentially lack or are weaker than others.

Throughout Warner Bros. the general atmosphere is friendly and relaxed and within my office people were more friends than colleagues and we would regularly go out for drinks on a Thursday/Friday and go for lunch during the week. Whenever a new person joined the team we organised a social event so we could all get to know them and they could feel comfortable as soon as possible, and not just feel like "the new person".

My role had specific daily responsibilities and my role was integral to the whole team - I wasn't just given random jobs here and there once they had thought of something to give to me. I felt like a valued member and the work I contributed to was used by other colleagues and many projects were used by senior management.

Warner Bros. invest heavily in the Internship programme and organise a number of training courses and sessions which help you develop on skills that are important during the placement such as Project Management and Presentation Skills. I've found these sessions extremely useful and often used the tips and advice given in my day to day role. Warner Bros. also focused heavily on feedback after these training sessions as they were keen to continuously improve.

I would definitely consider working back at Warner Bros. however as there isn't a Graduate Scheme it would just be the case of looking out of jobs as they came available on the website.

The social scene is what probably made this placement so distinctive to other companies. With around 50 interns (majority in the same building) the first week is like freshers week all over again - but you actually have to wake up early and have real responsibility. Throughout the year there would always be something organised and as many interns lived with other interns it wasn't just going for drinks in the week but also things planned on the weekend. I've also found that nearly every team in Warner Bros. are just as sociable as the interns and many teams go out for drinks on a Thursday/Friday.

It goes without saying that London is a very expensive place to live however after saying this I believe it is worth it. The range of pubs, bars, clubs, restaurants just within a couple of miles of the office meant you always had the choice of somewhere new. As long as you can manage your money and make sensible choices (i.e. make lunch at home instead of buying it every lunch time) it really is manageable.

As just mentioned there is such a huge range of bars and pubs within the area that there's always the option of going somewhere new each week. There are bars ranging from Ping Pong Bars to Piano Bars so there was something for whatever the occasion and also for various group sizes.

I would receive regular emails of things going on outside work, whether that be sport clubs to sleepouts for charity and these were also advertised on the website so I always knew if something was going on.