Commercial Operations Management Review

The internship was challenging but in a rewarding way. I was part of GE Capital, the industrial finance sector, so the role was relatively monetary based. With this being said, it was a varied experience in terms of both job roles and sectors of business that we dealt with. This diversity definitely helped keep the internship interesting.

I was doing a proper full time job that is essential to the team's working and my manager consistently reminded me of this. As time went on, I got on with the team more and more too, but there was always the barrier of being colleagues first and friends second. Therefore, although I always felt valued in the work that I did, I would have liked to have been valued in a personal sense more.

All the help was there when I needed it, but you have to be proactive in asking for it. I was given a manager, a mentor and a buddy to help me settle in. Furthermore, people from different sectors of the business were more than happy to spare their time to teach me about their role and walk me through their daily responsibility, making it very easy to build a large network of individuals that can provide guidance.

There is always work to do if you are motivated enough to do it. In my role, I chose to stay late several times because of the quantity of work, but it improves your prioritisation skills. Sometimes the work was more pressured than other times, but there was a consistently large workload to work through when I found the time. Again, it is all down to how you prioritise work.

I had a lot of responsibility at GE, particularly in terms of reporting out accurate figures. This provided the right kind of pressure to keep work exciting. There were several reports and actions that only I could do due, meaning I was a key member of the team. There was not one point during the internship where I felt like my work didn't matter or that the team could easily function without me, meaning I had a lot of responsibility to provide consistent results.

The placement determined which career path I want to follow, meaning that I spent a lot of time on my placement developing skills that will assist me in following this after graduation. In terms of studies, I was able to link theories that I had learnt about previously to the placement year, solidifying my current knowledge. Furthermore, I had to write several university assignments whilst on placement, and as a result of daily practise, my communication style and analytical skills greatly improved, making future assignments much easier and of a higher standard.

The atmosphere was pretty good. There were often cultural events on (including a lot of delicious food) which really raised a team spirit. With this being said, the teams in my particular office were quite diverse and complicated, so it was hard to build a team spirit between these teams, even if there was a large focus from GE to do this. Even so, it was a pleasant atmosphere in the office and everyone was very friendly and open when approached.

The placement was well organised from GE's end, the only problem being with the initial HR screenings. It took a long long time to get through the recruitment process, but once that was out of the way, my manager in particular had a set structure of what I should be doing each week for the first few weeks. This being said, I was largely independent, meaning I organised a lot of it myself. This worked fantastically for me, but I know it wouldn't suit everyone.

There were some very basic online courses and readings available to employees, but face to face trainings were limited, and sometimes expensive for the team. I undertook all the on-site trainings I could (about 4 during the year's placement) but would have liked to see more. With this being said, I was able to enlist on a free online finance training course courtesy of GE, which was great. More on-site trainings would have been appreciated.

There is no solidified link between an internship at GE and a graduate position. I worked hard during my year to network with influential individuals in the hiring process, but even then they said that there is an indefinite hiring freeze, and that the best way to get back in would be the graduate leadership schemes (which are incredibly competitive, but rewarding). I would love to return to GE, but it seems like at the moment, it is unlikely that this is possible.

There was a facebook page set up before we joined so we were able to sort accommodation amongst ourselves. I lived with 3 other interns, but the social scene was average. I would have liked to see more interns communicating across sites. With this being said, there were monthly intern catch up calls for all UK interns, which is a step in the right direction.

The area itself was relatively expensive, and not a place for young people at all. This being said, the surrounding areas were more 'studenty' and had cheap places to drink and eat, all aimed at younger people. The city centre is pretty expensive, but it's worth it for the sheer number of things to do there.

In the actual area I worked in, there was near to no nightlife. I'm personally not a big fan of clubs, so I prefer to go to a good cheap pub instead. There were a couple of expensive pubs in the area, but nothing that great. You have to travel quite far out from the actual office to get to any nightlife places tailored more for the student population.

There city itself has so many opportunities that are easy to find. I picked up photography this year and there are so many clubs and places to practise this. I was never bored on weekends as there is so much to explore in the city. There are also a lot of people, so if you have an interest in anything, I can guarantee there will be a social club for it.