Design and Communications Intern Review

I have overall really enjoyed my internship with Cancer Research UK. I have been able to learn a lot of new skills and gain an understanding of digital communications in the charity sector. I have learnt numerous skills and believe this internship is the perfect way to prepare for a full time job.

I felt very valued by my colleagues. I was given specific projects to work on and allowed a lot of independence in how I approached these projects. I was continually thanked for my work and also made to feel as though I was immediately part o the team, they made me feel very settled.

I was given a lot of support and guidance from my manager. She organised weekly catch ups for me to update her on my progress with my projects and asked if I was happy with my workload. If there were any areas I was interested in gaining experience in she was more than happy to set up some time for me to do this. I was introduced to all of the team and felt very supported from everyone.

I was kept continually busy throughout my internship with projects to work on. Although I was given 4 projects during my first week these were constantly assessed and added to, to ensure I had enough to work on. My weekly catch ups with my manager ensured my workload was constantly being assessed.

Overall, I was given more responsibility than I expected to have during my internship. I was given full control over a few of my projects and was encouraged to feedback my ideas to the team. I was also given some tasks that my manager would need to approve, but was overall left to work independently the majority of the time.

The skills and experience I have gained during my internship with assist me beyond my degree as it has given me some real life experience and has allowed me to get a taste of work within the charity sector and within digital communication. I am currently applying for digital communication roles and I will carry the skills I have learnt in my internship into a possible future career.

Everyone in the office is really friendly and helpful and it has been a fun and welcoming environment to work in. Walking into this huge building on my first day was a very daunting, having never worked in an office before, but the open plan relaxed nature of the office made me feel very relaxed.

The whole experience was very organised. I received emails inviting me for interview, offering me the role, and giving advice for further steps. We were given a lot of information and many opportunities to ask for help. Esther especially helped massively with being so organised and answering questions before, and during, the internship.

I was given quite a lot of independence regarding what personal development I wanted to gain from my internship. If there was a certain skills I was interested in learning, my manager would organise time to allow me to develop that skill. They also advised me on applying for future jobs, which was extremely helpful.

Through the placement I have been given a lot of information about job roles open within the organisation, this has helpful but I am currently not looking for a job within this organisation, although it is something I would consider in the future. I know Cancer Research UK would be a great place to work.

A lot of the interns all had lunch together every day and were involved in fundraising and training opportunities together. I live outside of London so often couldn't stay after work but I know some of the interns living in London often went out after work together.

I would say the cost of living and socialising in the area of my internship is higher than where I am living in Essex, but seems to be pretty average for London prices. I think the highest cost of getting to my internship was definitely the tube and train costs.

Although I had no experience of the Nightlife in the area of my internship. I know there are a lot of really nice restaurants and a range of bars/pubs around. I am not so sure about any nightclubs but its London so there are many places to explore around here.

Cancer Research UK in general seem to have a lot of out of office opportunities, a lot of them seem to involve fundraising. During my internship I did take part in the Cash Collecting for World Cancer Day which was really fun. They are also running clubs and I have heard there is lots of going out during the summer.