Summer Intern Review

In terms of enjoyability it was varied, fast paced and welcoming. I was very rarely bored and found the work interesting and new. Working in a hospital as part of management consultancy was a new experience for me and the work I completed was between different parts. The team were welcoming and there were many project and office socials I was able to attend.

The project I was on was large and I was lucky to start as many of the new associates were starting. The result of this was, although it was hard, I fitted in and became useful from the start. I was taking ownership of jobs and being relied upon to the same extend as many of the graduate joiners. I definitely felt valued.

I was assigned a people manager who gives me my formal moderations throughout the internship. She set objectives with me and I was surprised by the effort she went to ensure that they would stretch me. The recruitment staff were always available to answer questions and I was able to have a mid internship check in with one of the recruitment managers in case I had any questions.

The work was varied and while some days would be more relaxed other days would be much busier and would have to stay a bit later. I liked this variability and throughout the process the Directors of the project reiterated the need to work sensibly and not to over-do it. There were a couple of days that were a little too pressured for my liking, but the opportunities to push myself during this were worth it.

I was given far more responsibility than I expected. They didn't just give this to me, but once I had proved myself on the project I was able to become fully integrated into the team and adopt and create work that was useful for the project. I had responsibility to interact with the client and make sure that resources critical to the project were found. The most responsibility I was given was to find my own work and role in the team - at no point did I feel like I had a 'line manager' who was giving me work to do - the freedom and responsibility this gave me was fantastic.

I have not yet entered the final year of my degree since finishing the internship, but I can highlight certain areas where I believe the skills learnt will be useful. The additional practise and learning in excel will be useful for research in my dissertation and the additional practise I have got at learning to work with different people and working styles will be useful for group work.

I understand that different offices can have differing atmospheres, however the Birmingham office had a very inviting one. There were fortnightly Huddles that we were able to run and get involved with. Whenever any of us had questions everybody was happy to help and take time out of their day. The engagement partner in the office was happy to hold catch-up meetings with us to talk about the business or Consulting in general.

We had a three day induction where the firm, standards and processes were introduced to us and then two days of acclimatisation in the office before we started our projects. The result of this was that I felt well placed to start work the following week. My work on the project itself wasn't particularly organised however this was to do with the project itself rather than the internship programme. This was also a good experience in itself.

The first week of the internship was spent with an induction event and then with acclimatisation in the office. Throughout the rest of the internship there wasn't much formal training, however this will vary by role and project. Throughout the project people definitely invested time and effort in me and this enabled me to get fully involved. At the beginning of the internship my people manager put in a lot of time making sure my objectives for the project were rigorous and would stretch me.

I find them very appealing. As an associate you are given opportunities to adapt the working and types of projects you work on. If there is a particular area you want to work in, then this is possible. There are also opportunities to work across the country and even other parts of the world. The flexibility and opportunities available are fantastic and this is one of the main reasons I want to pursue future employment at PwC.

Yes, this was encouraged as well. We had socials together and had regular catch-ups as well. I participated in a country-wide intern competition where we presented in London. During this I worked with other interns from across the country and made good friends with them. I was always able to make sure I was in the office on Friday away from Client site so I could catch-up with the other office interns.

My placement was in Birmingham so this was very reasonable. Birmingham is a good city for living costs as both rent and other costs are low. Whenever I commuted to client site PwC always paid for travel expenses which helped. There were also a number of paid socials and team dinners as well. I was able to stay in a Student Residence over the Summer and this was £90/week which was very affordable given the salary they pay you.

I didn't go for a 'night out' during my Internship as this is not something I normally like too much, but friends of mine did do this and seemed to enjoy it. However, there were many other opportunities for socialising and events. We attended food festivals during Lunch sometimes, Lazerquest, Espace rooms and some of the people on our project also did social tennis. There were many opportunities to get involved in evening socials.

As mentioned above there were many opportunities. There are numerous 'above & beyond' opportunities; for example, the Consulting interns in the Birmingham office organised a Charity Team Challenge for the office. There were other opportunities to get involved in group events and socials as well. I always felt that if I wanted to get involved in more activities outside of work then they were available.