Summer Placement Review

I really enjoyed my placement this summer at Centrica – it has been a great experience in terms of the tasks I was given, personal development and the working culture. I was given space to work on big tasks and contribute to the company, which I believe is rare in internships.

I felt valued by my team as they asked my opinion in meetings and were always happy to answer questions that I had on my own tasks, their tasks or the wider business. For the tasks that I completed, my team always made an effort to point out how this contributed to the business and the value that it would add.

I was given a good amount of support in my tasks as my manager was always there and happy to answer any questions that I had. However, when I felt more confident in the second half of my placement my manager also gave me space so that I could gain independence.

I was quite busy on a daily basis. I had a few large tasks which I was set to do during the placement so the rate to which I was busy often was self-motivated. I always had a lot of work and was also busy because I attended meetings to aid my project, and to gauge awareness of my department/the wider business.

I was given a fair amount of responsibility during my placement – I was given a few projects to go about. Here, I set up meetings with individuals and engaged with analysis during my time. This will add value to the business. However, there was not too much pressure as it was not time sensitive.

Centrica has been really great with personal development and is one of the reasons I think it distinguishes itself from the other schemes. They put in time to set up excel and presentation training which were very useful and will definitely help in any future career I choose to pursue in the future.

The office atmosphere was really good. In general quite quiet, which was good when I wanted to get on with my work. However, my team were really friendly and were always happy to chat when we all needed a small break from our work. They were also very good at always offering to make coffee/tea.

The placement was well organised – I found out that I had got on the graduate placement quite early on in the year. There was then a small lag before I found out what I would be doing during my time. However, a couple of weeks before arriving my manager got in touch to explain my job, as well as my buddy to say hi.

The company really invested in my personal development and set up both a presentation and excel training course. These were both really useful during my time at Centrica and will definitely be really helpful in any career that I choose to pursue in the future. People throughout the company were also really happy to meet with me for half an hour to explain their role which gave me more commercial awareness.

Future employment prospects are very appealing and I have applied to the graduate programme. I have spoken to people who are currently on the graduate scheme and the individuals who run it and was really impressed by the structure of it and the support that they offer. I was also impressed by how much they invest in personal development at Centrica.

There was quite a good social scene amongst the other interns. Everyone was really friendly and fun and we spent a lot of time after work together either going to the gym, chilling or going out. However, the placement is based in Egham so not much scope to go out.

The cost is what you make of it in Egham. It is quite a cheap area to live in so you could spend a minimal amount during the placement. However, I went into London quite a lot after work and on weekends – this meant that I spend quite a lot both on trains/taxis from the station and general London expenses.