Intern Review

I really enjoyed working for Hays during my placement year as I feel I have gained really valuable skills that will help me to progress with future roles. The team were exceptionally friendly and welcoming and I enjoyed being a part of the social events that took place. I enjoyed pushing myself out of my comfort zone and building my confidence to prove that I can be successful in this business.

I felt exceptionally valued and I was consistently praised for the good work I was doing. I was involved with team incentives, to which i won twice! I always felt acknowledged and was given achievable targets. I never felt like i was just an intern, I was always made to feel equal to every other employee and we worked as a team rather than individuals.

I was given a lot of support when I needed or asked for it, and I always felt this was given willingly. My manager always provided the best guidance in order for me to succeed and be happy during my time here at Hays. The level of training and support given generally is incredible!

I was always busy and my days were filled with a variety of tasks- so I was never bored! I felt that my managers gave me enough activities to keep my brain active. I was elected the Hays North West Talent Scout which involved working with internal recruitment to scout the new interns and I recently started a new project, creating and running a brand new Facebook page for Hays North West.

I was given responsibility in the sense that I would use my knowledge and expertise to decide which candidates were relevant for different roles. This meant that I could efficiently meet the needs of the clients by providing suitable candidates for the role. I was also in control of my desk in the sense that I decided how I used my time and what tasks I did during the day.

I think the skills I have developed whilst at Hays will certainly help me during my final year of study as I think I will be more routine and strict with how I use my time in order to study efficiently and effectively. I also feel that my internship will benefit future employment as it is seen a great achievement to study and work at the same time.

The atmosphere in my office was sociable and friendly and everyone acted like a family. There was never a dull moment and everyone supported one another with successes. The office environment is fun which makes working become enjoyable and sociable. I felt that the environment really made a difference when coming into work because we are all here for a long time each day, it is important to enjoy the working environment- which I did!

I felt the internship was exceptionally organised and well planned out. I didn't expect interns to be taken as seriously as they are and the amount of time and money spent on us was phenomenal! We were given amazing industry leading training and consistently supported with refresher days so we could keep developing the skills we were learning. I felt I was given a lot of support with anything I needed and felt I was given clear plans as to what I would be progressing on to next. I was always given achievable targets which would help me to progress and develop onto the next stage.

I was given industry leading training which was amazing and exceptionally useful before starting the role in the office. I felt this was a huge advantage against what other internships may have offered. I also had refresher training days, where we would discuss the skills we had already learnt and how we could develop them further.

Hays offer a variety of career paths which provide options based on what you want from a personal side of business. For example you could take the route of managing people or managing your business. The career prospects are very exciting at Hays and are essentially down to you and what you want to achieve.

As interns we gathered together a few times for social events which was really nice and enabled us to develop our relationships as interns and share experiences. We were involved with all social events and made to feel equal and valued alike every other employee. The social scene was great, we were always gathered together to celebrate different events.

I lived at home during my internship so the cost of living did not change for me from being at uni to going to my internship. In terms of socialising I thought the cost was very reasonable and I didn't feel it was much different to when I was at university.

The nightlife was great as we are based in the city centre so we had access to lots of different bars and clubs. We had a regular pub that we would gather together for drinks, but also tried other places for other events. There are lots of options for nightlife in Manchester which makes it a great social city.

In terms of opportunities outside of work we tended to gather together for drinks and social nights. Other opportunities included the Christmas ball and year end social wrap up activities. Over all, I think we could have organised more outside of work activities to get involved in- such as pub quizzes, crazy golf etc.