This review was submitted over 4 years ago, so some of the information it contains may no longer be relevant.
Rating
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The Role
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The Company
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The Culture
- 1. To what extent did you enjoy your work placement or internship?
- 2. To what extent did you feel valued by your colleagues?
- 3. To what extent were you given support and guidance by management/your supervisor(s)?
- 4. How busy were you on a daily basis?
- 5. How much responsibility were you given during your placement?
- 6. To what extent did/will the skills you developed, and training you received, assist you in your degree studies and beyond?
- 7. What was the general atmosphere in your office?
- 8. How well organised was the overall work placement or internship set up?
- 9. In terms of personal training and development, to what extent did the company or firm invest in you?
- 10. What were the perks on your work placement?
- 11. How appealing are future employment prospects within the organisation?
- 12. Was there a good social scene amongst any fellow placement students/colleagues?
- 13. What was the cost of living and socialising in the area you worked in?
- 14. What was the Nightlife like in the area you worked?
- 15. Were there many opportunities to get involved in activities outside of work?
The Role
I definitely enjoyed the internship as a whole. Obviously it varies from day to day, and I still looked forward to the weekend, but as far as work goes it was usually enjoyable.
Whilst there was still to some extent a divide between interns and permanent employees, it was very minimal. I was rarely referred to as an intern and I feel my colleagues recognised the contribution I made during my internship. It was also great to bond socially in after work drinks.
My manager scheduled weekly catch-ups with me and there was always someone nearby (usually sitting next to me) to ask a question. People were also always willing to give up their time.
I could have done with a little more work as my project involved periods of being out of my hand and not requiring input from me. This was only an issue on days where I had no meetings or other events scheduled.
I was shocked (in a good way!) at the level of responsibility I was given. I was assigned a project with real business impacts which would have a global reach and provide real insights to the company. It was made clear I was free to shape the direction of my project as I saw fit.
I developed my networking, presentational, and project management skills. I think the most valuable part was just seeing how a large company works and how to deliver a project within such an environment.
The Company
The general atmosphere was very relaxed, I never once saw anyone visibly stressed, upset or angry. There is not really a huge divide between regular employees and leadership for the first few levels of management which was positive.
There were no faults with the internship scheme, it is seamlessly integrated in to how the company operates. Amex is also very efficient in the early stage of the process which shows they value the effort people make to apply for the scheme, compared to other large companies who often take months to respond to the first round of application.
The company ran multiple sessions to give us an overview of the company which included speakers from senior levels of management. It was good to have a programme of events just for the interns. There was also an Excel training session.
Subsidised Canteen
National Travel
Company Parties/Events
Working from home
I would definitely work for this company in future.
The Culture
The interns met for lunch everyday and we got on well. There were also a few intern events which were high quality. I went out with my colleagues a few times which was great and definitely strengthened my relationship with them, but other teams may not have been as socially active.
The cost of living in London is obviously high, whilst housing is uniformly poor quality and comically priced. This is obviously not the fault of American Express and overall I enjoyed living in London for summer. There is a subsidised canteen and loads of eateries around the office which meant lunch was varied.
The nightlife was great (but expensive), anywhere in London!
The interns did half a day of volunteering in a local park which was fun. I'm sure there are lots of opportunities to get involved outside of work, but as I was only there for 10 weeks I wasn't aware of it.
Details
Internship (1 Month+)
London
August 2017