Marketing Analyst Review

I found the internship to be a really enjoyable experience and far exceeding my expectations. For me, this was all down to the culture within the company and the people around me that made me feel both welcomed and a part of the team almost instantly. The 10 weeks went so fast, which I think is testament to how much I have enjoyed my time within such a great team.

We were really able to immerse ourselves into the company, and I personally found that the 'Intern' label was, if anything, a springboard for us to get access to Senior members of staff rather than being sidelined at every point or given menial tasks. As a result, I did feel valued by colleagues at every level in the company which also comes back down to how kind and welcoming everyone was when I arrived.

I think that there was a great amount of support as and when required but we were really able to lead our projects independently, and thus guidance became less common as the weeks progressed. Though I think this will differ from person to person and how they personally learn best, I found that the reduced amount of support made things more challenging and ultimately allowed me to show my initiative.

I would say that the workload was sufficient but naturally found that I had more to do on some days as opposed to others, especially when waiting for information from someone in relation to your project for example. I think that there were times where I would have benefited from more of a structure in terms of the workload, but again this comes back down to figuring things out for yourself and showing that use of your initiative to your Manager/Team.

I would say that this was the best part of my internship as I was given a project with real-time impact on the Business Unit and something that could well be put into place in the near future. I was able to take full responsibility for my work and reach out to people that could help, before then presenting it to Senior members of staff to gain their feedback. This was great and really helped to make me feel valued.

A number of the skills that I used during my 10 weeks are transferable, but being able to apply them into a commercial setting is really valuable in my view from a professional point of view as opposed to helping within my degree studies. In particular, I found that I was able to strengthen my communication skills and tailor this to different parts of the Business which is a skill that will prove useful.

Everyone was really friendly and approachable, which helped when I had questions to ask or needed clarification of certain things. One of the best things about the atmosphere was a real respect for work-life balance and being able to have fun in the office too - which includes a ping pong table! This helped to make it a really enjoyable place to be.

I found that it was well organised with a mixture of training, social events and information sessions. The most engaging part of the internship structure was having weekly Overview Session with Senior staff members of different Business Areas, to allow us to gain a deeper understanding of what they do. It was also a great way to break up the weeks and offer us the chance to ask questions to Senior leaders about their work and day-to-day roles.

I think that this question links to how valued we felt, as it was clear just how much had been invested into us as interns. We were given training sessions at the start of the internship and then had subsequent training modules online and within our respective offices, many of which were with the wider team. This was great as we were able to really immerse ourselves into the business as if we were already employees, and see how the company works towards developing their employees on a routine basis as opposed to just us as interns.

The company has a great culture and incredible set of people, which makes it a really appealing place to work. I found that as an intern, it has been clear that they want us to be part of a talent pipeline meaning that this would give us the platform to showcase ourselves and then enter the business with a view to progressing and being the leaders of tomorrow. I think that this was a really enticing approach and certainly made me feel that this is somewhere I could see myself working in the future, if I was to be offered a job!

All of the interns got on really well so we had a great time both on the formal events organised by the Recruitment team, as well as our own social events between ourselves. I also found that people in my team were really outgoing and fun so would often invite us out for drinks or other activities - again making us feel really valued and welcomed to the company!

Being based in Brighton, I knew that it was dubbed London by the Sea meaning that it is almost identical in terms of living and socialising costs. I would say though that it was a really enjoyable place to be for 10 weeks especially for me as someone who lives in London. It is a vibrant city with something always going on - including the infamous Brighton Pride which took place during the internship and sponsored by American Express, which meant that we really had the opportunity to get fully involved. Despite the cost, it was a great place to be for 10 weeks and the weather held out too!

We had a number of events organised through the internship programme and structure, including social events and a community volunteering day. These were great ways to connect with other interns in different departments, as well as understanding just how much the company values the work-life balance of its employees. I would say that there were fewer events organised within teams, but the formal events through the internship programme meant that we were not bored and had a number of things to be getting involved in over the 10 weeks!