Policy & Public Affairs Intern Review

Overall, my internship was a great experience. I enjoyed the tasks that I was given and felt valued by the team. I felt that I was making an impact through the work I was doing, not only on myself but also the wider organisation. I would highly recommend undertaking an internship at CRUK - they are very well structured and place a lot of emphasis on the value of interns.

I definitely felt that the work I was doing contributed in some way to the work being done by my colleagues. It was quite straightforward to fit into the office environment and become involved in the different projects that were running, while also feeling like the larger projects given to me would make an impact in the long-term.

My manager was excellent at giving me tasks that used my existing skills, and helped me develop new ones at the same time. They were big on persona development, which meant that I was given a lot of opportunities to add value to my CV through the different projects I was doing.

My work plan included several different tasks, from self-managed projects to ad hoc support, meaning I always had something to do. There would sometimes be some time between finishing a task and receiving feedback, but this leaves time for self development and extra training that you can do in the role.

The work lets you be quite independent, but is continuously reviewed to make sure that you are on the right track. This meant that I could get on with the work I was doing, but did have to switch gears to another piece of work when waiting for feedback from my superiors.

I definitely felt that the skills I developed during the internship were what I would need for a future career in a similar field. My manager clearly broke down each project by the key skills/attributes that it would develop, which was really helpful in not only understanding what would be required in further work, but also drew on skills I developed during my degree that could be used again.

The atmosphere in my office was very productive. My colleagues were friendly and helpful, and there were times when we would spend time discussing more serious issues as well as having fun. I felt like I could approach anyone in the office, and felt very included in activities organised by my colleagues.

The overall internship was very well set up and I received a lot of support from my manager. The length of the internship (12 weeks) is the perfect amount, and there are lots of opportunities to do tasks set by the team, as well as look at other things that could be achieved during my placement.

CRUK is big on training and development, and have several training and development modules that you can take during your internship, from the required health and safety courses to how to talk about cancer. I found these really useful as it helped me understand the larger facets of the organisation.

The organisation definitely focuses on giving you the opportunity to get ready for further employment, whether at CRUK or at a different organisation. Advertisements for jobs that would be coming up were shared with interns if they were interested in applying, the majority of which were based in London. This meant that we were made aware of opportunities, but there were very few out-with London.

There were lots of opportunities to get involved with other interns, through training sessions and fundraising activities, but being a regional intern, I was not as involved as the other interns at Angel. I would advise regional or remote interns to try and get involved in intern activities over email so that they can get involved in some way.

My placement wasn't far from where I lived, so there was no cost involved. The organisation does reimburse travel expenses for people that need to commute so that helps people who live further away. As I wasn't based in central London at the Angel office, the living and socialising expenses were definitely cheaper.

There were opportunities to get involved in activities outside work. There were some away days organised for colleagues that I was invited to as well. However, if I had been with the other interns at Angel then I think that I would have had more opportunities to socialise with colleagues.